|
Eunice Lea Kettering, age 93, passed away in her sleep on the 9th of March, 2000. Born April 4, 1906 to the Rev. and Mrs. James D. Lea in Savannah, Ohio. An orphan by age three, she was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Adam Kettering of Ashland, Ohio. A graduate from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio, in her last years there she became the first woman in the U.S. to pass the tests to become a Fellow in the American Guild of Organists. Graduating from the School of Sacred Music of Union Seminary, NYC, she studied one summer in Austria with Bela Bartok; later with private lessons from Dr. Normand Lockwood and Dr. Felix Labunski. After three years' teaching at Madison University in Virginia, she taught for 23 years at Ashland University in Ohio as Professor of Music and Composer-in-Residence. Upon early retirement to devote full time to composition, she moved to Santa Fe in 1959, then to Albuquerque in 1962. She had written over 300 compositions in all categories. Her work has been widely performed and 36 works have been published. Her compositions are on file at the Fine Arts Library of the University of New Mexico and at the Music Library of Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. She was a MacDowell Colonist; a member of ASCAP (Amer. Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers); a member of the New Mexico Women Composers' Guild; past member of the National Guild of Organists, and a Life Member of the National Federation of Music Clubs. Affiliated with the Unity Church of Christianity. Coupled with her love of music was a strong religious faith, desiring to write only music that would heal and bless. She is listed in eight biographical dictionaries. Surviving are one sister-in-law, Mrs. John Lea of Wooster, OH; and eight nieces and two nephews. Five brothers and two sisters are deceased. Burial will be private. Cremation arrangements by the Sunrise Society of NM, 891-8200.
|
