Julian E. Bulley,80, organbuilder of Dayton, Ohio, died July 28 in Keene, New Hampshire. He was the second generation owner and president of Toledo Pipe Organ Company, established in 1906 by his father Roy C. Bulley, following a tradition begun by his grandfather John Bruce Bulley, organist and composer from Liverpool, England. Mr. Bulley built, restored and maintained pipe organs throughout the Midwest and as far away as Florida, North and South Carolina and California.
Born in Toledo in 1923, he spent his childhood in Toledo, Perrysburg and Fostoria. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toledo and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan, and was a part-time physics lecturer at the University of Toledo. A victim of McCarthyism in 1951, he was fired without explanation, which led to the founding of the Toledo Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. He returned to the University of Toledo in 1960 to lecture in mathematics. He worked for the American Friends Service Committee in Chicago in the early 1950s. In 1967 he moved to Dayton, Ohio, assuming the position of Peace Education Secretary for the AFSC.
Mr. Bulley operated the Toledo Pipe Organ Company in Dayton, Ohio, from 1967 through 2003. With C. Pat McClelland, his partner of 25 years, the restoration and reinstallation of the pipe organ at the Dayton Art Institute was completed in 2003. McClelland continues to carry on the pipe organ tradition begun three generations ago by the Bulley family. Among the many organ projects are those for Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, Conover, North Carolina (1977); First Presbyterian Church, Franklin, Ohio (1983); Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Newton, North Carolina (1988); St. John’s United Church of Christ, Germantown, Ohio (1990); and the rebuilt and enlarged Wurlitzer organ at the Victoria Theatre, Dayton, Ohio, 1991. Julian Bulley and his wife Janice were spiritual people. They were closely associated with Quaker meetings in Toledo, Chicago, Ann Arbor and Dayton, and were members of the First Unitarian Church in Toledo until 1967. In Dayton they adopted Reformed Judaism and became members of Temple Israel. This last year, Julian renewed his affiliation with the Unitarians of Keene, New Hampshire. Julian Bulley is survived by two daughters and three grandchildren.
Russell Edwin Jenter,87, died on January 26, 2004, in Adrian, Michigan. Mr. Jenter graduated from Machester High School, Cleary College, and Cincinnati College of Embalming. During World War II he served as a CPA in the Medics Corps in the South Pacific. After the war, he worked as a purchasing agent for the Leitz Company both in California and Missouri. Mr. Jenter had many interests and enjoyed traveling and music. Raised in Manchester, Michigan, he was a member of Emanuel United Church of Christ, where as a young man he served as organist. After retiring he returned to Manchester and was a very active member of the Ann Arbor AGO chapter. He was a generous contributor to and supporter of the organ departments of the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University. He is survived by a brother, a brother-in-law, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. A memorial service was held on January 29, 2004 at Emanuel United Church of Christ in Manchester, Michigan.
David James Leslie, inventor and manufacturer of the Leslie speaker, died on September 2 at the age of 93 in Altadena, California. He was fascinated with the Hammond organ when it was introduced in 1935 and experimented with devices to improve the sound. When he came up with his hand-built Leslie speaker, he offered it to Hammond, hoping for a job, but was turned down. He then founded Electro Music in Pasadena to manufacture his speaker, which became popular for use with electronic organs by Hammond, Wurlitzer, Conn, Baldwin, Kimball, Yamaha and others. The Leslie also proved effective for portable keyboards, synthesizers, and other electronic instruments. Through the 1940s, the name for his invention (two rotating horns for enhancing both treble and bass) varied, from Hollywood speaker to Jesse Crawford speaker, but by 1949 Leslie speaker had become the universally accepted name. In 1985 he sold Electro Music to CBS, which made it part of CBS Musical Instruments. By the late 1980s, Hammond bought the speaker which is now built by Hammond-Suzuki USA. Born in Danville, Illinois, Leslie grew up in Glendale and lived his adult life in Pasadena and Altadena. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Carolyn, a daughter, two sons, a sister, and six grandchildren.
