Wilnella May Bush
Wilnella May Bush of Tecumseh, Michigan, died March 17. Born Wilnella Hornberger on December 8, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, she studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she earned a Master of Music degree. She taught for many years for Britton-Macon Area Schools and was an assistant professor of music for Adrian College, Adrian, Michigan, where she was instrumental in producing operettas, teaching piano and organ, and accompanying choral music. In addition, she served as organist and choir director for over 65 years for Tecumseh United Methodist Church.
Wilnella Bush was married for nearly sixty years to L. Donald Bush, who preceded her in death. She is survived by her daughter, Sarah (Dave) Berriman of Livonia, Michigan, two granddaughters, sister Sue (Russ) Nye, brother Paul (Judy) Hornberger, and sister-in-law Sue Hornberger. A funeral service was held March 27 at Tecumseh United Methodist Church. Memorial gifts may be given in her memory to Tecumseh United Methodist Church, 605 Bishop Reed Drive, Tecumseh, Michigan 49286 (tecumsehumc.org) or Lenawee County Department on Aging, 1040 South Winter Street, #3003, Adrian, Michigan 49221 (lenaweeseniors.org/1148/Department-on-Aging).
Ford Mylius Lallerstedt
Ford Mylius Lallerstedt, 76, died May 20 in North Carolina. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he began piano study at age five. He earned his Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The Juilliard School, New York, New York, having been awarded prizes in organ performance and having held teaching fellowships in piano and solfège. A concert organist, he made his New York City debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1979 and went on to perform in Europe and throughout the United States as both a soloist and accompanist for his wife, mezzo-soprano Brenda Boozer, who survives. A noted improviser, Lallerstedt composed and recorded over 200 works for piano and organ, including his 24 Improvised Preludes and Fugues.
While in his early twenties and a student at Juilliard, he joined the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his more than fifty-year tenure, he conducted the Curtis Chamber Orchestra, helped introduce historically informed performance practice to the orchestral studies program, and taught courses in counterpoint, music history, and solfège. Furthermore, he taught at Juilliard, State University of New York at Purchase, Mannes College of Music, Tanglewood Music Center, and Britt Music and Arts Festival’s Orchestral Fellowship program. He served as director of music at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Mount Kisco, New York. In late 2023 he published Aspects of Music, which explores how the concepts of counterpoint could be key to understanding how the brain makes sense of music.
Albert Neutel, Sr.
Albert Neutel, Sr., died May 21, 2026. He was born February 19, 1937, in Hogeveen, the Netherlands. As a young man growing up in his native country he was introduced to pipe organs and organ building with a local firm. This is where his fascination with pipe organs was formed. In 1954 his entire family immigrated to Canada.
There he earned a certificate in electronics that led to a job with the Hallman Organ Company. From there he went on to work with regional organ companies in the role of service and installation technician. He then founded the Neutel Pipe Organ Company in Ontario. While the bulk of his work was centered in Ontario, Neutel pipe organs could be found as far west as Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta.
Neutel joined the American Institute of Organbuilders, where he first met Franklin Mitchell. In 1977 Mitchell asked Neutel if he would consider coming to work for the Reuter Organ Company in Lawrence, Kansas. After a visit to Kansas, Neutel wrapped up operations in Ontario while the family waited for visa approval. In the fall of 1979, with approval in hand, he began work at Reuter. Not long thereafter, the opportunity for Mitchell and Neutel to partner and purchase the company presented itself. With Mitchell’s retirement in 1997, Albert, Sr., took the helm of the company until 2005. During his tenure at Reuter, Neutel completed more than 700 organs.
In 1960 Albert Neutel married Jane Janssen, also a native of the Netherlands and a registered nurse. Upon retirement they began full-time travel of the United States and Canada in their RV, eventually settling in Bradenton, Florida. Jane Neutel died in 2015. Shortly afterwards, Albert moved to Jacksonville to be closer to family. Albert Neutel is survived by his four children, fifteen grandchildren, and fourteen great grandchildren.
Orpha Caroline Ochse
Orpha Caroline Ochse, 100, died April 26 in Pomona, California. Born May 6, 1925, in St. Joseph, Missouri, she began her musical studies early, graduating from Lafayette High School in 1941. Her first organ teacher was Edna Michel. She attended Swinney Conservatory of Music at Central Methodist College, Fayette, Missouri, studying with Luther T. Spayde, before earning her Master of Music (1948) and Ph.D. (1953) degrees from Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, where she studied with Harold Gleason. She held teaching positions at Central Methodist College, Western Illinois State College (now Western Illinois University, Macomb), and Phoenix College, Arizona, before moving to California in 1957, where she served as director of music at First Congregational Church, Pasadena, for twelve years and as a lecturer in music at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for fifteen years. She joined the faculty of Whittier College, Whittier, California, in 1969 and taught for nearly two decades until her retirement in 1987, whereupon she was named Professor Emerita.
As an author, her book-length publications include The History of the Organ in the United States (1975, 1988, Indiana University Press), Organists and Organ Playing in Nineteenth-Century France and Belgium (2000, Indiana University Press), Austin Organs (2003, Organ Historical Society), and Schoenstein & Co. Organs (2008, OHS Press), in addition to numerous article contributions. Her research and performance activities took her abroad, including extended time in Paris working in the archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. She composed organ music, including Prelude and Two Fugues for Flute and Organ, and built her own pipe organ. Eastman School of Music awarded Ochse its Alumni Achievement Award in 2006. Active in the American Guild of Organists, she served as dean of the Central Arizona and Pasadena chapters and as a member of the national council. Also active in the Organ Historical Society, she was elected a lifetime honorary member of the organization.
A celebration of life took place May 22 at Mount San Antonio Gardens, Pomona, California. Memorial gifts may be made to the Whittier College Organ Restoration Fund (whittier.advancementform.com/campaign/organrestoration/give) for the college’s Memorial Chapel 1963 Schlicker organ.
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