Note:
This article was first written and published in 2006 for a collection celebrating
Lititz’ 250th anniversary.
Musical dynasties are not uncommon in European history. One thinks immediately of the Bach family in
Germany and the Strausses of Vienna.
Lititz can boast of five generations of Lutz family members who were and
remain active in the musical life of the community.
A butcher by
trade, Benjamin Fry “Benny” Lutz was the patriarch of the assembly. As early as 1913 he formed the Lutz Family
Quintette, consisting of himself, daughter Ruth, son Benjamin, and nephew
Winfield Wilson on cornet, and son John playing the baritone horn. For several years the group played for church
and community gatherings and fairs throughout the county, gaining a wide
reputation for their entertainment skills.
Then tragedy struck; daughter Ruth succumbed in the great influenza
pandemic of 1918, dying at the youthful age of 17. Benny’s wife Nora never quite recovered from
the loss of her only daughter, but Benny continued for decades to encourage the
youth of the community in both musical and athletic endeavors. Reconstituted as The Lutz Family Band, he and
his descendants brightened lives in such venues as church picnics, Conestoga
View, area fairs and farm shows, and the county jail.
As director of
the Sunday School orchestra at the Lititz Moravian Church, Benny was a familiar
figure to many. He was also a prolific
hymn tune composer, setting the texts of a number of different writers. Collections of his hymns were published in
Lititz in 1942 and 1943. These booklets
include “I Love Jesus” with words by Ella Buch, which bears the notation “This
song was first sung in the Moravian Church, at Lititz Pa. by the infant class
on Christmas 1907.” The song “Closer to
Jesus,” to a text of the Rev. H. J. Heydt of the School of the Bible in
Lancaster, was included in Tabernacle Hymns No. 4, becoming the first hymn
written in Lititz in more than a century to find its way into a nationally
distributed hymnal.
Benny’s sons
were gifted both in church music and in the more popular music of the day. Besides being stalwart members of various
vocal and brass choirs, John, Benjamin, and Robert all played the musical saw,
while Henry held forth on banjo, spoons, and bones. For a few years in mid-century Benjamin and
his daughter Marian entertained on the marimba, an instrument which enjoyed
great popularity at that time.
Robert, a French
horn player, joined the Army Band during World War II and was sent to Japan
near the very end of hostilities.
Feeling a deep concern for the people of that country, he cherished a
dream of returning some day as a missionary.
Though he trained for the ministry and was ordained in the Church of the
Nazarene, he was never to realize the fulfillment of that desire. He inherited his father’s gift for hymn
writing, and in the 1940s saw publication of “Crucified for Me” and “I Can
Always Sing to Him,” for both of which he wrote both text and music.
The third
generation continued the musical tradition of the family. John’s daughter Nancy and Benjamin’s daughter
Thelma both had lovely voices which graced church choirs and family band
concerts alike. Nancy’s younger sister
Patricia is a clarinetist and pianist who also directs bell choir. Besides daughters Thelma and Marian, mentioned
already, Benjamin also had a son Benjamin who, after completing studies at
Lebanon Valley College, went to New York City to try his hand at a career in
show business. The possessor of a fine
tenor voice, he sang for a few years as a member of the vocal group
Mello-Larks. When the heavy touring
schedule proved to have a negative impact on his family, however, he abandoned
the life of the professional musician and moved to California, where he became
an office manager.
In the 1950s
Patricia and another cousin, Roberta, daughter of Robert, starred in an
original play, written by Lititz historian Mary Huebner and titled “The Singing
School.” This local production, directed
by Julia Zercher Keehn, also featured Julia’s husband George and contralto Jean
Hanna Bender, a member of another Lititz family noted for their fine singing
voices.
As interest in
preserving and performing Moravian music of the 18th and early 19th
centuries increased, Julia Keehn and Thelma Lutz Stauffer, together with
Thelma’s daughter Marilyn, formed The Moramus Trio. This ensemble was active through the 1960s
and ‘70s, singing at various local churches.
Marilyn’s brother Bill Stauffer is well-known for his stirring solos at
Lititz community functions, including Memorial Day services and events in
Lititz Springs Park.
Representing the
fifth, and thus-far youngest, generation of the Lutz family is Debra
Copenhaver, daughter of Marilyn. Like
her mother before her, Deb was selected as first chair soprano in State Chorus
during her senior year of high school. She then went on to study at Eastman
Conservatory. An accomplished violist as
well as vocalist, she now teaches privately in the State College area, while
also finding time to sing in Nightshade, a band that does music of the 1970s
and ‘80s. And just to maintain
connection to her Lutz family heritage, Deb also plays the saw, a skill passed
on to her by her great-great-uncle Robert on one of his last visits to Lititz.
Thus for nearly
a century Lititz has benefited from the musical ministrations of members of
this extraordinarily talented family. We
are certainly fortunate to be the recipients of their gifts.