Obituaries
Longtime Church Organist Dies at Age 104
Helga Janzen Lepp played the organ for The Church in Silver Lake and First United Methodist Church in Cuyahoga Falls.
Helga Janzen Lepp, 104, served as an organist at in Cuyahoga Falls from 1947 to 1970 and at The Church in Silver Lake from 1970 to 1977.
The Cuyahoga Falls resident, who died Feb. 27, was born Feb. 2, 1907, in a part of the Ukraine that was then part of the Russian Empire.
In 1924, Lepp, her parents and 10 siblings left Russia for Nova Scotia, Canada.
Find out what's happening in Cuyahoga Fallswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
She attended the Toronto Conservatory of Music from which she graduated with a degree in piano performance.
On Feb. 25, 1933, she married Gerhard Johann Lepp. They moved to the United States and lived in Pennsylvania and Nebraska before settling in Cuyahoga Falls in 1941.
Find out what's happening in Cuyahoga Fallswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The following year, she became an American citizen.
Lepp had belonged to the Tuesday Musical Club and the American Guild of Organists.
Her husband died in 1990 after 57 years of marriage.
Lepp is survived by her children, John, Peter, Lisa MacAdam and Paul; 11 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; a great-great-grandchild; and her sister, Marta Schafer.
Calling hours will be from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Friday, March 4, at , 1930 Front St.
Friends also may call from noon until 1 p.m. services Saturday, March 5, at First United Methodist Church, 245 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221.
Donations be made to the church’s gift and memorials fund; or to Hospice Visiting Nurse Service, 3358 Ridgewood Road, Akron, OH 44333.