Church organist, Darley, 85, dies
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Long-time LDS Tabernacle organist Roy Maughan Darley died Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2003. Mr. Darley, 85, served as Tabernacle organist for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 37 years before his retirement in 1984.
Mr. Darley also served one year as organist at the Hyde Park Chapel in London, and was named an Associate of the Royal College of Music in London.
Mormon Tabernacle Choir music director, Craig D. Jessop, said Friday that Mr. Darley's "dedicated service to the choir and to the church as a Tabernacle organist will long be remembered with gratitude, respect and affection. Not only was Roy Darley a great artist, he was also a devoted Latter-day Saint whose lifetime of service was exemplary."
Born on Sept. 14, 1918, in Wellsville, Cache County, Mr. Darley graduated in music from Utah State University, where he was the first organist of the newly installed pipe organ at the LDS Institute. He later received a master's degree in music from the University of Utah.
Following an LDS mission in the Eastern States, Mr. Darley served as organist and program director of the Washington, D.C., Chapel, and then as a U.S. Army chaplain in Borneo, the Philippines, and Japan. As part of the occupational forces, he entered Hiroshima 60 days after the bomb was dropped.
Mr. Darley served for 25 years on the YMMIA General Board and was a member of the General Music Committee. After retiring, he and his wife served an LDS New Zealand Christchurch Mission, and later both worked in the Salt Lake Temple as ordinance workers.
Funeral services will be held Monday, Oct. 6, at 11 a.m. at the Ensign 4th Ward, 9th Avenue and K Street.
