Beverly Royster Howerton
Beverly Royster Howerton passed away on 23 January 2009, having lived a long and glorious 84 years. 39 of those years were fulfilled as organist and choir director at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During his time there he worked closely with senior minister Dr. Duncan Littlefair to create a flexible yet soul-stirring liturgy for a liberal church. He also performed several significant choral works, including compositions by Dave Brubeck, who came to Fountain Street Church several times to perform with Bev and his choir. He also premiered the choral piece Magic in the Heart of the Universe, composed by fellow Fountain Streeters Jack Kimmell and Adrian Swets, which was subsequently performed in major venues in New York and around the country. He took the choir on several tours abroad, and his career was culminated by a performance in Carnegie Hall. For 11 years after his retirement from Fountain Street Church, he gave similar gifts of music to the congregation of First United Methodist Church of Greenville, Michigan. He learned his art at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
Bev is preceded by his very much adored wife of 37 years, Barbarajane Mayhew Howerton, who passed away in 1990, and a brother, Richard T. Howerton. He is survived by his second wife, Kathryn Hair, his two sons, William Mayhew Howerton and Barry Alexander Howerton, and his very close and very dear step-son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Donna Johnson. He is also survived by a brother Thomas Howerton, a dear sister Dorothy Nelson, and five grandchildren: Diana, Katherine, Eliot, Maya, and Ryan.
Bev lived a long and fruitful life, and his memory is cherished by the countless people he has touched with his music and his gracious personality. Always one to enjoy the spotlight, he was nevertheless a humble man who always put others first, and wished more than anything else to share joy and happiness with friends and loved ones, and to live life well. He often remarked that his views on life and its meaning are eloquently expressed by the passage in Micah 6:8: He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? He was also profoundly touched by the lyrics written by his good friend and collaborator Adrian Swets for the song Winter Comes from Magic in the Heart of the Universe:
There must be magic in the heart of the universe
And magic in the heart of me.
Winter comes, winter goes
Who directs the winters icy blows?
Who tells spring to wear such pretty clothes each year?
Summer sun fills the sky
Grain grows yellow and the butterfly,
Without anybodys hue or cry, is here.
So the world, wise and old,
At its own discretion will unfold
Lighting stars and making marigolds appear.
So I learn, as I grow.
Sometimes things I think I do not know
At their own time show me answers very clear,
Like the spring and summer,
Suddenly, theyre here.
A memorial service is planned at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the afternoon of Friday 13th of February at 1 PM. Those wishing to honor Bev are welcome to contribute in his name to the Fountain Street Church Music Fund. Please contact Fountain Street Church at 616-459-8386 for more information.
