Alan D. Walker

Alan D. Walker RUTLAND TOWN — Alan D. Walker of Rutland Town, Vermont, passed away on March 19, 2025 after spending his last days surrounded by his large and loving family, whom he inspired with positivity and humor right up until his passing. Born on July 9, 1927 to Kirke W. Walker, Sr. and Clara Meinzer Walker, Alan graduated from Hyde Park (MA) High School in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17 and served on active duty for 18 months. He attended college at Northeastern University in Boston before transferring to the Boston University College of Music, majoring in Organ and graduating in 1951. He completed graduate studies at the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1953. Alan’s mother, Clara, began to teach him piano when he was four years old. He wasn’t very interested in the piano for several years, so his work on the piano was sporadic between the ages of 4 and 12. At that point, Clara passed away, and Ralph Williamson, an accomplished church organist, offered to teach him. It was at this time that Alan caught a vision of what he could do on the piano and he became a steady and more serious pianist. He also played the French horn in the Hyde Park High School Band and Orchestra. His first assignment as a church organist came on June 6, 1944 when he was asked by the Associate Minister of his church to play a special service in honor of D-Day. His acceptance of this important job was remarkable not only because he was just 16 years old; he had never played an organ before! To his dismay, he saw there were knobs sticking out on either side with funny foreign names on them – and there were pedals! He had no idea how to approach the organ, to say nothing about how to play it! Nonetheless, he approached the instrument like an eager explorer about to traverse undiscovered lands. He fell in love with the organ and made it his career with his first position as an organist in 1949. He went on to provide church music for nearly eighty years after that momentous day in 1944, rarely missing a Sunday. On June 1, 1952, he married Elizabeth Jane “Betty” Belcher in their home church in Hyde Park, MA. Together they raised six children with sacrifice, humility and patience. They inspired their family to be good citizens and even better human beings who, in turn, would pass these lessons on to their own children and grandchildren. Betty and Alan had been married for almost 60 years when Betty passed away in 2012. Alan’s full-time employment years were spent as a church organist and Director of Music in North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Hawaii before coming to Vermont in 1974 to direct the music program at Grace Congregational United Church of Christ. There, he served for 18 years, concurrently conducting the Rutland Area Chorus, a large choir famous for its stirring Christmastime performances of Handel’s Messiah and annual Spring concerts. In his inaugural year leading this group, he incorporated a small orchestra, and this instrumental ensemble has been a mainstay of the Chorus’s presentations ever since. He also founded the Rutland Chorale, a select group of twenty singers who presented two or three programs each year. He gave piano and organ lessons to hundreds of pupils over the years, abiding with patience the ones who didn’t practice enough, even those who lived in his own house. Commissioned by Grace Church, he composed a major work, the Cantata from the Psalms, to commemorate the church’s 200th anniversary in 1988. The Cantata was presented by the Rutland Area Chorus, soloists (including his son, Richard), and members of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Following the performance, Rutland’s mayor presented Alan with the Crossroads Arts Council’s 1988 Community Award. He published two dozen other musical compositions, and his chamber music pieces have been performed by the Killington and Manchester Music Festivals, Carnegie and Craftsbury Chamber Players, and the Bennington Woodwind Quintet. Upon retiring from full-time work at Grace Church, he assumed part-time positions at St. Peter’s Church in Bennington and Union Church of Proctor. He concluded his Sunday church playing as a volunteer organist at the Rutland Branch in the Montpelier Vermont Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also in retirement, he played monthly piano programs at The Meadows, local nursing homes, and at the Gables where he resided. These programs were much more than recitals. He enhanced the listeners’ appreciation for the music by introducing each piece with a fascinating and sometimes humorous lesson on the life of the composer and the story behind the music, and he challenged the audience to listen for themes woven into the composition. He was a member of the American Guild of Organists since his college years, spending two terms each as Dean of the Worcester (MA) and Hawaii chapters. In Vermont, he served as chapter Treasurer for 19 years. Upon retiring from that position, he was awarded an honorary lifetime membership in the chapter. Aside from music, he took much satisfaction in volunteering at the Rutland Regional Medical Center for 22 years. He is survived by his children, Richard (Virginia) of Williston, VT, Elizabeth (Michael) Moser of West Rutland, VT, Carol (Gerhard “Andy”) Foelsche of Rehoboth, MA, Martha (William) Florance of Middleton, MA, Raymond (Rebecca) of Burlington, VT; sister-in-law, Ruth Pergola of Lowell, MA; 22 grandchildren; 43 great-grandchildren; and 1 great-great-grandchild. Besides his parents and wife, he was predeceased by his stepmother, Marion Nichols Walker; a son, Alan D. Walker, Jr., USAF Ret.; and his brother, Kirke W. Walker, Jr. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 5 at Grace Congregational UCC at 2:00 pm. The service will be live streamed on the Grace Church YouTube channel (@gracechurchvt847). Memorial contributions may be made to Grace Congregational UCC, 8 Court Street, Rutland, VT 05701, the Rutland Regional Medical Center, 160 Allen Street, Rutland, VT 05701, or to the charity of one’s choice. Tossing Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.