A MEMORIAL SERVICE WAS HELD ON SAT. MARCH 28TH, 2009 AT BATTELL CHAPEL, Yale University, at 3:00pm. All were cordially invited. Over 800 in attendance! DVD available through the Yale Glee Club office.

Service details: Tom Murray, University Organist, started the prelude 20 minutes before the 3 p.m. service began. There were performances by The Yale Glee Club, The Yale Alumni Chorus, The Whiffenpoofs of 2009, The SLOT's, and The University Glee Club of New Haven. A magnificent, and humbling, tribute.

Contributions in memory of Fenno may be sent to the
North Congregational Church P.O. Box 307 New Hartford CT 06057.

Condolences may be sent directly to the family (Carol, Sarah, Lucy, Peggy, Terry) at pogilvy@comcast.net

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F F Heath Jr. 12-30-1926 to 12-05-2008



About the blog:
Please feel free to share your memories with us about Fenno/Dad. Send your stories/memories to pogilvy@comcast.net and we will gladly post your letter, unless you indicate otherwise.

Thank you. Your letters bring us joy.

Sincerely,

~Carol, Sarah, Lucy, Peggy, and Terry Heath


Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Dad is still with us......

Still resting peacefully this morning.........

11 comments:

  1. Dear Fenno, You've inspired so many voices, kindled so many spirits, touched so many hearts, and enriched so many souls.
    Now "steal away", in peace and glory.
    Thanking you for many memories over so many years,
    Rosalyn Chrenka '77
    Chicago, IL

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  2. The People Will Live On, Fenno .. and so will you. You will be sold again, and no one will sell you short. We were all so fortunate to have watched you demonstrate the art of musical leadership. It rubs off on the rest of our lives.

    I hope St. Peter keeps on pitch as he moves you on - for his sake!

    Al Atherton '59

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  3. Dear Fenno, I sit here with tears streaming as I think of all you have given me, my family, and the world. You and your whole family have been profoundly responsible for the role of music in my life and the joy it brings me. That, and your friendship, have enriched my life immeasurably, and I thank you. Love, Patty (Granger) Lawson

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  4. Fenno,

    I'm just one of the thousands who had the privilege to sing under you in YGC. My thoughts are with you, Carol and the family today and will be. The Biebl "Ave Maria" comes to mind, of course. What a gift you had, Fenno -- what a treasure for all of us. I will be singing you Christmas carol arrangements throughout the season...

    Much, much love and great appreciation,

    Alison Buttenheim YGC '88-'90

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  5. Dear Fenno,
    I'm sure you know that you have deeply touched thousands of people's lives with your music and your humanity, but I want you also to know that you that it's not just singers who have been affected by you. I learned so much about the art of conducting from you, especially about how to inspire singers and touch their hearts. Your gifts and talents were vast, and yet you made it all look so easy and natural, and you never forgot that it's all about communicating with people. You are permanently a part of who I am, and a part of so very many others as well. So now, dear and beloved man, thank you and goodbye. Rest easy and know that you have made the world a better place. "Come unto Him, all ye that labour, and He will give you rest."
    Rodney Wynkoop, '73
    Duke University

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  7. Dear Fenno,

    Thank you from me, as well, another of the many thousands whose lives you touched. You taught me how to make music with care, love, and fellowship--many of my dearest friendships are forever wound up with memories of your gentle, generous conducting and all the wonderful times I had in the Glee Club. I offer immeasurable thanks, and wish you much peace.

    --Harriet Goren '83

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  8. I have been thinking about you, Fenno, and the Heath Family quite a bit recently for many reasons.
    The most obvious of these is a personal connection.

    My vintage of Yale Glee Club alums are now at the age when we are saying good by to parents and older friends. My husband's mother, who was a lifelong lover of music and an avid singer, died at the end of September. We had Bach motets playing at her beside when she departed and her funeral service was full of music. Listening to that music made me remember times when I was singing, particularly at Connecticut College and Yale.

    There is nothing like the feeling of performing a piece of choral music you have worked hard on for months, becoming a part of that larger sound, and being moved somewhere beyond the notes and the score and the voices. I know I was privileged to have had you as my teacher and guide for many of those performances.

    When we first met I was terrified and somewhat in awe of you. (Do you remember? I was pressed into singing "Aura Lee" with you, my brother, my father, and my grandfather at the New Haven Lawn Club). Later, once I got to know you, I could appreciate your outstanding talents as a director and composer and your great sense of humor. I'm grateful that I had a chance to see you on occasion in recent years up here in the north country (at KUA and in Cornish).

    Fenno, really what I want to say is that I send you thanks and love and wish you peace.

    Hatsy McGraw '77
    Windsor, VT.

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  9. Dear Fenno - You were a huge part of my Yale experience, and happy memories from two years there as a graduate student. The 1977 Tour was a highlight of my life, and one indelible memory must be of my imitating your conducting in the basement of a concert venue in Dachau prior to giving that evening's concert. I couldn't look you too closely in the eye during that performance for fear of cracking both of us up. I love your spirit and sense of fun, and have been happy to see you several times in intervening years for a variety of reasons. You are a dear person - thank you for lots of happy times, and much LOVE! Polly Willard Marvin

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  10. Fenno (and Carol and Terry):
    I know I have been out of touch these past 2 decades or so, but I want you all to know how important you were to me back in the 1980s. I had the privilege of watching Terry do the Hustle with Laurie Newman, of driving with Carol and Fenno up to Torrington, and of having dinner with Fenno's mom at her house. I was able to sing under Fenno's care in both Battelle Chapel choir and Glee Club, and to participate in the Scandanavian tour of 1987 (as well as many US tours). In short, I was honored out of all measure by all of you, and I want to tell Fenno, especially, that he was a very important influence in my life. I hope I am to my students at Swarthmore what he was to his at Yale.

    My love to all of you, and deepest sadness for the news that Fenno is ill.

    Carr Everbach

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  11. Dear Fenno, What a joy it is to quickly let you know the impact you had on me 20 years ago. I joined the Glee Club primarily to be close to a girl. In two years you opened my eyes to the beauty of music, to the beauty of singing. I still have shivers remembering singing your folk songs and the Biebl, in particular. While the songs were beautiful your passion for them was the real inspiration. Your passion for the music and for us brought the best out of me. You gave me the gift of song and I am a better person for it. I will tell my grandchildren about singing for Fenno!
    Baker Mallory '91

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