Dr. Randel L. Wolfe

Randel Lynn Wolfe, DMA, 52, of Reading, Pennsylvania, passed away April 14 following a long illness.
Wolfe was Director of Music & the Arts Emeritus at Historic Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, where he had served for 12 years.
He previously served as Director of Music with Trinity Lutheran Church in Lawrence, Kansas.
A native of Bakersfield, California, he earned a bachelor degree in music from the California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California; a master in sacred music from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio; and a doctor of musical arts in choral conducting and organ performance at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. He undertook post-graduate studies at Uppsala University in Sweden.
An accomplished scholar and musician, Wolfe was a member of the American Guild of Organists and past President of its local chapter. He was a member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and Chorus America. He served on the Board of Directors of the Royal School of Church Music in America, Princeton, New Jersey.
Locally, he was Chairman Emeritus of the Friends of Chamber Music, was Chairperson of the Fall Festival of the Arts Committee, served as an instructor at Alvernia University, and was a former section director with the Berks Youth Chorus. He was a member of the Worship and Music Team of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
He performed with the Reading Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony, and sang with the Wheatland Chorale. An acclaimed baritone, he sang the National Anthem in Allen Field House before Kansas basketball games.
He is survived by two brothers, Robert in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Ronald in Bakersfield, California; by his mother, Donna, also of Bakersfield; and by his long-time partner, David B. Kersley, of Reading. He was predeceased by his father, Robert, of Bakersfield.
A Rite of Christian Burial will be celebrated in Historic Trinity Lutheran Church, 529 Washington, on Saturday, April 27 at 2:00 p.m., His service will be web broadcast on the church’s website. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the organ fund at Trinity Lutheran, or to the Humane Society of Berks County. 935 Centre Avenue. Reading, PA 19601. rumsey-yost.com
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