Marie Johanna Kremer

Kremer, Marie Johanna

On Sunday, January 19, Marie entered into Eternal Life at the age of 87. Marianne Kremer, Elmar and Martha Kremer, Roswitha and Malcolm Woodman, Brooke Kremer Millington, Annette and Lori Kremer and many nephews and nieces and friends mourn their loss, as she joins her deceased brothers Rudi, Leo (Father Philip) and Norbert. Marie devoted her life to serving the Catholic Church as a pastoral musician. Beginning in 1952 she served six St. Louis parishes: Most Holy Trinity, St. Liborius, Holy Cross, All Saints, Our Lady of Providence and St. Monica. After study at Washington University with Howard Kelsey, at Cornell with Luigi Taglivini, and in Vienna under Anton Heiller through a Fulbright Scholarship which took her also to Holland, she received her Ph.D. in music in 1974. Early in her career she was much in demand for organ recitals; she organized and directed the Louis IX Chorale from 1966-1993; served as organ Instructor at St. Louis University from 1972-1990; was on the music faculty at St. Mary's Institute in O'Fallon from 1962-1964; conducted courses for Paul VI Catechetical Institute and Fontbonne College; was a member of the St. Louis Archdiocesan Music Commission from 1959-1981 and 2000-2003; a member of the American Guild of Organists from 1958-2018, serving as an officer and Dean from 1971-1976; and member of the Academy of Liturgy from 1990-2005. After joining the National Association of Pastoral Musicians in 1978 she helped form the St. Louis chapter and served as director for four years as well as chairing national conventions in St. Louis in 1983 and 1993, and was one of six board members of the five-thousand member organization to serve two terms as well as serving as Music Review Editor for their national magazine. Among the awards she received were: 1993 - 'Outstanding Service to the Development of Pastoral Music', 1991 - 'Outstanding Full Time Minister of Music', 1993 - 'Koinonia Award for Leadership in Liturgical Music' from the National Association of Pastoral Musicians; 1984 - first recipient of the Hellriegel-Burbach for outstanding service to the St. Louis Archdiocese; 2000 - 'Avis Blewett Award' from the St. Louis chapter of the American Guild Organists; 2005 - 'Catherine of Siena Excellence in Ministry Award' from Aquinas Institute. But it was the day-to-day ministry of church music that Marie excelled. The choirs and musical repertoire she developed at Holy Cross, All Saints, Our Lady Providence and St. Monica were hallmarks of her career. Her knowledge of liturgy and the church year enriched each community and her ability to coordinate singers, instrumentalist, cantors, handbell ringers and choirs - adult through children - was one of her greatest gifts. Beyond all that was her dedication to her art and her willingness to expend unlimited energy in achieving the best she, and those she worked with, could produce. Her commitment to perfection was absolute; she gave her life to pursuing it. We thank her for her dedication and love, and thank God for the wonderful gift she was to us all. Marie willed her body to the St. Louis University School of Anatomy. Plans for a Memorials Mass are pending.