Lee McGinty, 70, a well-known organist in the Chicago area, passed away on Dec. 5, 2020 at her home in Downers Grove.
Lee was born in 1950 in Fort Worth, Texas. She graduated from Chisholm Trail Academy in Keene, Texas, in 1968. She attended Southwestern Union College, where she studied organ with Wilbur Schramm and William Bromme. Lee graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1987 with a degree in organ performance. She studied organ with Roberta Gary and Guy Bovet, and choral conducting with John Leman.
Her first organist position was for a Methodist church in Cleburne, Texas, in 1966 when she was 16. She played for churches around Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. She was an active member of the Houston Symphony Chorus, where her love for choirs and choral music flourished. While attending school full-time at CCM, Lee also worked full-time at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Kettering, Ohio, as the minister of music.
In 1987, Lee moved to the Chicago area. She worked in the business world as a mortgage banker, becoming vice president at JP Morgan Chase. At the same time, she was organist at the Hinsdale Covenant Church. From 1990-2020 Lee successively was organist at Community United Methodist in Naperville, First Presbyterian in Libertyville, organist and music director at Community Presbyterian in Clarendon Hills and most recently St. Timothy Lutheran in Naperville. Lee was greatly sought after as an accompanist and recitalist with area churches and school districts, and worked as accompanist for the Cardinal Chorus of North Central College from 2017-19. Over the years she played and worked with West Suburban Symphony and Christ Church in Oak Brook. She was music director for shows with Community Players and Summer Place in Naperville and Theater of Western Springs and was music director and conductor of the Singing Men of Oak Brook from 2017-18.
Lee was preceded in death by her parents, Woodrow W. and Edith McGinty.
She is survived by her sister, Leslie Casper; her nephew, Richard Casper; her cousins, Linda Jungman and Mike Jungman; and many other cousins and friends.
A memorial service will take place in the spring or summer of 2021.
Memorials may be made to the Humane Society of North Texas, 1840 E Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth, TX, 76103; or online at https://www.hsnt.org.
Brian Powell Funeral Directors of Hinsdale handled the arrangements.
