Dwight D. Killam, 82
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. â€' Dwight D. Killam, 82, of Henderson Road died Thursday, April 30, 2009, at home.
Born in Haverill on July 19, 1926, son of Horace and Maud Disbrow Killam, he graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover and received a bachelor's degree from Syracuse (N.Y.) University. He earned his master's and doctorate degrees in music education from Boston University.
An Army veteran of World War II, he served in the Pacific theater as a chaplain's assistant and directed a concert of a combined American and Japanese choir.
Mr. Killam was a church organist, music educator and a celebrated performer. He joined music department faculty at North Adams State College upon completion of his doctorate. Commonly known to his students as "Doc," he taught music theory and piano classes and directed all the choral ensembles and musical theater productions. He retired from teaching in 1990, although family said he would tell you that he retired three times: from school, from church and from performing recitals.
He began his ministry of music in 1944 at St Paul's Episcopal Church in North Andover and served in nearly a dozen churches. His first teaching position began in 1951 in Hartford, N.Y., where he taught all 600 students in kindergarten through Grade 12. In 1955, he became a teacher in the Wilbraham Regional School District, teaching Grades 1 through 9, then became director of music for the newly built Minnechaug Regional High School, where he combined music, visual art and drama.
He was appointed a member the Massachusetts Music Educators Association's Executive Board in 1956, serving as president from 1971 to 1973. He received numerous honors including the MMEA's Distinguished Service Award and the Lowell Mason Award. He was an active member of the Berkshire Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. In retirement, he relaxed more and traveled while continuing to give organ lessons and filling organ benches throughout Berkshire County. He was even called to tune the "uberorgan," a visual art exhibition at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
His first wife, Ruth Anne Killam, is deceased. They were married 49 years.
He leaves his wife, the Rev. Ann Clark-Killam; a son, David Dwight; two daughters, Ethel A. Snyder and Susan Elizabeth Killam; a brother, Horace Killam; a sister, Martha Killam; 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
FUNERAL NOTICE â€' A celebration of Mr. Killam's life will be held at First Congregational Church of North Adams on Sunday, May 3, at 4. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Symphony Hall Scholars Fund, PO Box 761026, Melrose, MA 02176.
Arrangements are by Auge-San Soucie-Simmons Funeral Home, 46 North Church St., North Adams, MA 01247.