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Good Hope Lutheran honors Gladys Melnick for 50 years of service
Gladys Melnick Church Organist
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Gladys Melnick has been the organist at Good Hope Lutheran Church in Boardman, OH for 50 years.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
BOARDMAN
Music doesn’t mean something to Gladys Melnick, it means everything.
“Music is my life,” said the organist who has played for 50 years at Good Hope Lutheran Church. Of course, family and faith rank high in her heart and soul music intertwines with both.
Melnick was recently honored for her faithful service to the church at a dinner June 5. Mementos she received were a G-clef pin with a cross on it that was crafted by Tom Metzler, a church member who is a jeweler, and a painting by Kim Polonus, a church member, with the lyrics of the hymn, “Blessed Assurance,” Melnick’s favorite.
The 87-year-old Melnick, who is originally from Columbiana, learned to play the piano at age 9 and was taught by a neighbor. “I sat with her baby and she taught me piano,” the Boardman resident recalled.
The love affair with music had begun and has not abated. At her home, she admitted she can’t walk past the baby grand piano without feeling that the keys are calling her to play them.
Melnick said she learned the basics of the organ at Columbiana High School, where a music teacher instructed her. After graduation, she worked for a year then applied to Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music and graduated in 1947. She went on to earn a master’s degree in piano at the American Conservatory in Chicago.
Returning to the Mahoning Valley, Melnick developed a following of some 60 students whom she taught at a studio on Wick Avenue in Youngstown. She also taught part-time at Dana. She received a call from her home church, Grace Church in Columbiana, about the organist position. She played the pipe organ there for 11 years.
She adjusted her musical career after marrying attorney Arseny Melnick and having three children by teaching students at home. They were married just a few months shy of their 50th wedding anniversary when he died 10 years ago.
Melnick said as a young family, they visited various churches, trying to find the right one. Good Hope Lutheran was a good fit. “Everyone was so friendly,” she said. Coming to Good Hope must have been destiny. “We had only attended two or three Sundays when the organist’s job opened up,” she said.
The rest is history. She began as organist May 14, 1961. “I’ve been here ever since,” she said. She has played the piano and organ for some 66 years.
That’s been in spite of some health issues. In 1985, she had a dissecting aneurysm on her aorta. “I died but was brought back,” she said. Last July, she broke a hip, had it repaired and now uses a cane. She admitted having knee replacements would be a good thing. The physical challenges have hampered her a bit, as playing the organ requires a certain amount of physical strength and stamina.
Melnick said she draws comfort and strength from her faith. “God has helped me and I have strength because of him,” she said. She said she believes her musical talent is a blessing from God and something to be shared with others to honor him. “I’m playing for the Lord,” she said.
An electronic three manual Allen organ is at Good Hope. “It thrills my soul and does something to me,” she said of playing the organ at church. “It fills a need in my heart.”
And she believes music adds that ethereal quality to the service. Some members have told her that her playing has inspired them spiritually.
Melnick said she appreciates the scope of the instrument — “the softness of the organ” and “its fullness.” Its range and power “get to my soul,” she said.
The longtime organist also has shared her love of music with her children, Arseny James “Jim” Melnick of Fredericksburg, Va., who plays the violin; Robert Melnick of Salem, who sings; and Annie Phipps of Somerset, Pa., who plays the piano and harp and sings. She also has 12 grandchildren.
“When we get together, we gather around the piano and sing and play,” she said. “It’s our own jam session.”