Alice Anne Clevenger

1961 - 2011

Alice Anne Clevenger nee Render age 50 of Winnetka, died Wednesday March 23, 2011. Mrs. Clevenger was born February 25, 1961 in Nashville, TN.

Beloved wife of Dale Clevenger; loving mother of Mac and Jesse Clevenger; dear daughter of Edwin R. and Joyce Render; fond sister of Ray, M.D. (Maureen) Render; aunt of Nina and Lainey Render.

A Celebration of Alice's Life will be held Monday, March 28, 2:00 p.m. at Christ Church, Church on the Hill, 784 North Sheridan Road at Humboldt Avenue, Winnetka. Interment private.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, 8765 West Higgins Road, Suite 401, Chicago, Illinois 60631.

French horn player aided CSO and her husband-principal horn

John von Rhein Classical music critic

Those who knew her well remember Alice Clevenger as a clever and energetic wife and mother who was also a skilled musician dedicated to her instrument, the French horn.
"She was a very positive spirit in all the years before the onset of her illness," said Daniel Gingrich,, the longtime associate principal horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who sat alongside Mrs. Clevenger at concerts and rehearsals when she assisted her husband, Dale, the orchestra's principal horn since 1966. "Since her illness came about, her courage was an inspiration to many of us."
Mrs. Clevenger, 50, died of cancer Wednesday, March 23, in her Winnetka home, Gingrich said.
Although not a full-time member of the CSO, Mrs. Clevenger distinguished herself as an extra player (or "ringer") on those occasions when a supplementary musician was required. Her skills were admired by many conductors, including former music director Georg Solti, who engaged her to sit in with the brass section in concerts at Orchestra Hall and on tour, beginning in the 1980s.
"Most of the playing she did with us was assisting Dale," said Gingrich. "She had an incredible knack, a real instinct, for how to support him" in the most musically effective way possible.
"Assisting is a job most orchestral horn players don't like very much, because you kind of have to out-think the person playing the first part," he said. "Alice really was very adept at that."
Gingrich and his wife, also a horn player, often saw the Clevengers socially. "A few years ago, we two horn-playing couples recorded an album of Christmas carols, just to share with our friends," he said. "That was fun."
Although chemotherapy and other cancer treatments sapped her strength, Mrs. Clevenger never lost her optimistic spirit during her eight-year struggle with serious illness, friends said.
"She came back to the orchestra to play with us whenever she could," Gingrich said. "Her work was nothing less than heroic."
"We are family here," he added, speaking of the CSO's world-famous brass section. "Alice was definitely a very special part of that family."
Born Alice Anne Render in Louisville, Ky., Mrs. Clevenger studied at Indiana University as a major in French horn before she and her husband settled in the Chicago area.
Besides her husband, she is survived by their two sons, Mac and Jesse; her parents, Edwin and Joyce Render; and a brother, Ray Render.
Services are set for 2 p.m. Mon