Hartley, Mary Kay Gerber (1939-1975)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1975 Jul 24 p. 8

Birth date: 1939

text of obituary

. . .

KIDRON, OHIO Kidron Mennonite Church July 3, 1975

. . .

Mrs. Mary Kay (Gerber) Hartley, 36, of Sweden was dead on arrival at Kavlinge Hospital on June 25. Death was due to an acute attack of asthma. She was an operatic singer with her husband Fred on concert tours in Europe. Her parents are Oswin G. and Luella Amstutz Gerber of Peoria, Ill. Among the survivors are her husband, her parents, a brother John and family of Burlington, Vt.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1975 Aug 28 p. 11

Birth date: 1939

text of obituary

MRS. MARY KAY HARTLEY

Mrs. Mary Kay (Gerber) Hartley, 36, a professional musician, died June 25, 1975 at her home in Kavlinge, Sweden from an apparent asthmatic attack. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Oswin G. Gerber of Peoria, Ill., had been visiting with her and her husband Fred and were in Norway at the time of her death.

The Gerbers were natives of the Kidron, Ohio community and moved to Peoria 22 years ago. Mrs. Hartley was a 1960 graduate of Goshen College and had taught music in the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, India. She moved to Vienna, Austria in December 1963 to pursue her musical career.

She performed with the Wiener Jeunesse Choir and Tonkunstler Orchestra, then joined the Vienna Academy Chorus. She married Fred Hartley, a Canadian, in 1966. He also was a member of the Chorus. They sang together in house concerts and on radio in Vienna and on tours in Switzerland and Sweden.

Memorial services were held July 3 in Kavlinge while her parents were still there. Also surviving is a brother, John, a doctor in Burlington, Vt. A memorial has been established in memory of Mary Kay Hartley for children of India through Mennonite Central Committee.