In Memoriam

New York Conference
United Church of Christ

IN MEMORIAM
The New York Conference, UCC send our condolences to the family and friends of Daniel James Maiden, former minister of Victoria Congregational Church (Queens, NY)
Reverend Daniel James Maiden
Daniel Maiden, of Granite Falls, passed away on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at his home at the age of 59.
Memorial services will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 10:30 AM at United Church of Christ in Granite Falls with Pastor Randy Moe officiating. 
Visitation will be held at the church for one hour before the service. 
On July 18, 1963, Daniel James Maiden was born to Merle and Dona Maiden. Dan graduated from Park High in St. Paul Park, Minnesota in 1981 and from U of Mn, Morris in 1984. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Drew Theological Seminary in 1988. In 2012 he earned his Doctor of Ministry from Hartford Seminary.
In addition to serving as parish pastor to several churches Dan’s ministry included helping provide dental care when the HIV/Aids epidemic was an epidemic of fear, ministering to Haitian immigrants and to people dying of AIDS. He was living in New York City on 9-11-2001 and was deeply moved by the attack on his adopted city.
While serving as parish pastor in Lakeland, Florida he married Paul Ledford on February 21, 2015. They moved to Granite Falls later that year where Dan served as pastor in Granite Falls United Church of Christ, Congregational and First Congregational in Montevideo.
Dan loved hiking and canoeing in the Minnesota River valley. With friends he journeyed to the badlands and Black Hills, Canadian Rockies, BWCA, Bighorn mountains, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. He loved hiking Lake Superior’s north shore and chasing fall colors in southeast Minnesota bluff country. Dan loved music, most recently, singing in the Granite Falls Community Chorus. Family was extremely important to Dan, and he had a strong sense of justice for people and all of creation.
He is survived by his husband, Paul Ledford; sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Paul Maiden Mueller, brother and sister-in-law Bob and Jeanine Maiden and brother Wes Maiden, nieces Mary Schultz and her husband Mike, Alena Maiden Mueller, Lauren Maiden-Aery and her husband Alan, Becky Maiden and Ruth Brown and her husband Chris. His nephews are John and Jacob Maiden, and David Maiden Mueller. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Joseph.

The New York Conference, UCC send our condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Robert Allen Chase
Westchester has lost one of its consummate musicians. Dr. Robert Allen Chase died on August 4, 2022, surrounded by his loving family. Dr. Chase was born October 14, 1938, in Milford, Massachusetts. A gifted organist, choirmaster, music scholar and professor, he took his bachelor’s degree at Boston University. He earned an MA in Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and subsequently his doctorate in Music Education from Columbia University. He also did post-graduate work at Yale University. He was a longtime member of the American Guild of Organists and served as Dean of the Westchester Chapter.
Dr. Chase taught at Westchester Music Conservatory, Iona Preparatory, and Pace University for 30 years. In addition to giving private organ lessons to numerous students, whose lives he touched.
A consummate and versatile musician, Dr. Chase served as Organist and Music Director at The Congregational Church in the Highlands in White Plains for 48 years. Prior to that, he was Organist and Choir Master in Larchmont Ave Church for nine years. A strong proponent of interfaith relations, he is still remembered with great fondness at Scarsdale Synagogue-Tremont Temple, where he played for thirty years.
Recognized internationally as a scholar of the pipe organ and Sacred music, he published seven books, including, JULES VAN NUFFEL AND HIS MUSIC 1978 and most recently Gradus ad Parnassum: A Guide to the Literature or Organ Instruction (2016). Most colleges and universities in 5 continents have his books.
Dr Chase received numerous awards including Distinguished Teacher by Pace University, Recipient of an award from the National Endowment of Humanities and Honorary membership in “Musica Sacra”( Warsaw, Poland). He was proficient in five languages (English, Russian, French, German, and Chinese), and was a lifelong philatelist. He published five articles in “The China Clipper,” a philatelist magazine.
A gifted conductor for American as well as Chinese choruses. Dr. Chase was also a private lecturer and organ performer. He was invited to play the Tabernacle Organ at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, an amazing instrument with 11,623 pipes, 147 voices, and 206 ranks.
As grand as that instrument is, Dr. Chase was never happier than when he sat at the keyboard of the organ at The Congregational Church in the Highlands for nearly fifty years. A great human being, he was highly respected and loved by friends around the world. A Memorial Service will be held there on October 15, 2022.
He is survived by his loving wife Jenny Kao Chase; his son, Wayne Rob Chase; two sisters, Vivian Smith and Barbara Ruef and nieces Allison Duncan and Jessica Wheeler.

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