Elizabeth Paul Chalupka died of an apparent heart attack on December 5, 2005, in Evanston, Illinois. She was 72. Born May 7, 1933, in Jacksonville, Illinois, she grew up in rural Arenzville. She received her bachelor of music degree in 1955 from MacMurray College where she studied with Robert Glasgow, and earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University. She also studied with Anton Heiller at the Vienna Academy of Music in Austria as a Fulbright scholar 1960–61.
Ms. Chalupka served as associate organist and choir director of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago from 1961–67. She also taught organ, theory, and directed the glee club at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. From 1968–1987 she was organist and choir director of the Winnetka Congregational Church, Winnetka, Illinois. She recorded regularly for Chicago’s fine arts radio station, WFMT, and performed numerous recitals and concerts.
For the past four years, Ms. Chalupka was a resident of the Presbyterian Homes in Evanston. Funeral services were held December 10 at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Arenzville. A memorial service will be held at a later date at the Winnetka Congregational Church.
Richard Peek, minister of music emeritus of Covenant Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, North Carolina, died November 28, 2005 at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. He was born May 17, 1927 in Mason, Michigan. Following graduation in 1945 from the Mason schools, he attended classes at Michigan State University for two semesters, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After military service, he returned to Michigan State University, graduating in 1950. He then moved to New York City, where he earned a master’s degree at Union Theological Seminary. While there, he was organist and choirmaster at Grace Episcopal Church, Plainfield, New Jersey. In 1957, he completed requirements for his SMD.
Dr. Peek and his wife Elizabeth “Betty” Lankford Peek came to Charlotte as a newlywed couple in 1952 and began their work at Covenant Church July 1, 1952. They had met at Union Seminary where they had each earned a Master of Sacred Music degree. Covenant Church, established in 1947, was still under construction in 1952, and the Peeks were hired to establish and direct a ministry of music. They retired at year-end 1999 after over 47 years of service.
In addition to regular worship services, Dr. Peek’s ministry included the Covenant Musical Series that featured local as well as visiting musicians, the annual candlelight service of lessons and carols, Independence Day carillon recitals, and summer performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. A leader in the Presbyterian denomination, Dr. Peek served as a member of the joint committee on worship for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church in the United States and the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The joint committee produced The Worshipbook—Services and Hymns, published in 1972. He was twice dean of the Charlotte AGO chapter, and for four years he served as a faculty member of the Montreat Music Conference. He was the North Carolina state chairman of the AGO and their elected regional chairman for the southeastern region, and was elected twice to the national council of the AGO.
As a composer, Dr. Peek wrote more than 300 pieces for organ, choir and instruments, including the Chorale and Toccata for orchestra, which was performed by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. He received a number of awards from the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs for his compositions. He was the author of numerous articles for The American Organist and The Diapason. His hobbies included collecting oriental rugs and gardening. He was a member of the Mint Museum and its Ceramic Circle.
Survivors, in addition to his wife, include two sons and two grandchildren. A memorial service was held on December 1, 2005, with a choir comprising the Covenant Choir, former members of the choir, and many colleagues from the Charlotte AGO chapter, singing works by Brahms and Peek accompanied by organ and members of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. The Oratorio Singers of Charlotte and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra dedicated their 2005 performance of Handel’s Messiah to the memory of Richard Peek.
