PLETSCH, Robert Henry was born November 19, 1932, at home in his parent’s farmhouse in Bruce County, Ontario, and died at home, April 22, 2009 in Victoria BC.
He started piano lessons at age 12, and in high school added trumpet to his musical activities. He played in the Walkerton, Ontario city band for several years. He also hitch-hiked to Toronto every two weeks to study pipe organ with Charles Peaker, a well-known organ performer and teacher of the time.
His first organ position was at Streetsville United Church near Toronto. In 1959, he left Canada for Oberline, Ohio, to start on a Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he stayed for 2 years. When he no longer could afford to continue there, he attended Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Il., and finished his Bachelor degree at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he also received his Master of Arts degree, majoring in church music.
During his university years he married and had 2 daughters by his first wife. His second marriage was to Helen Heeb, who was a voice teacher at Valparaiso University. The left Valparaiso in 1971 to go to Elmira, NY, where Mr. Pletsch became a school music teacher, and taught piano lessons. He also became organist/choirmaster for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, where his dear friend, the Reverend Delbert Resmer, (who had married him and Mrs. Pletsch in 1970) was the pastor.
They moved to Watertown, NY in 1978, where Mr. Pletsch became the organ/choirmaster for Trinity Episcopal Church. He also taught piano, and pipe organ.
In 1987, he and Mrs. Pletsch moved to Victoria, BC for him to accept the position of organist/choirmaster at St. Barnabas Anglican Church. He stayed at St. Barnabas for 7 years, after which he became the organist/choirmaster at St. John the Evangelist Anglican-Catholic Church a position he held until his death. He also taught music theory and sightsinging at Victoria Conservatory of Music and again taught piano and organ privately.
He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Helen; two daughters, Nicole Sanders (Joe) of Minnesota and Noelle Fust of Minnesota; a brother, Donald in Ontario; a sister, Marie in California; 3 grandchildren, Bethany, David and Victoria, and several nieces and nephews.
A Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Monday, April 27, 2009 at 11:00 am in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist (Anglican-Catholic Church), 990 Falmouth Rd.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. John the Evangelist Church in memory of Robert Pletsch.
22 Responses
This is three years late but I still wanted to express my sympathy at Mr. Pletsch’s memory. I was an organ student of his between 1967 and 1969 while he was working on his Masters at Valparaiso and I was a Capuchin Cleric at the Capuchin Friary in CrownPoint, Ind. He was the finest organ teacher I had and he left a very deep impression on me. Sadly I lost contact with him after I left CrownPoint. Over the years I have thought of him often but it was only with the coming of the Internet that I was able to search for him. Tonight he popped in my mind and I found this obituary. To all his loved ones I wish to express my sympathy. He touched my life and music in a very special way and will never be forgotten.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I was Bob’s student some forty years ago at Holy Family in Park Forest, Illinois, when he was a grad student at Valparaiso. He was a warm, wonderful, encouraging mentor in every respect, and the love he inspired for the King of Instruments and its music will always stay with me and be a source of joy and consolation.