Since the choir's inception in 1947, Lyco has been fortunate to have two excellent directors. Both of them directed the choir for many years, and both went above and beyond the call of duty to become friends as well as instructors. Here, we invite you to remember Walter McIver and Fred Thayer. Got a "Walt" or "Fred" memory? Let us know!

How very sad I was to receive word of Walter McIver's recent death. Although I had not been in touch with him for many years, it just was good to know he was still among us in the world.
   Although I was only actually in the choir for a year, the memories are lifelong. It was such a privilege to sing for Mr. McIver. It was like he was playing an instrument, and the instrument was us. His and Beulah's kindness and hospitality to the students was legendary, and I read somewhere that he could teach a telephone pole to sing – I think that's true, because he taught me to sing, and I had a lot of learning to do!
   The world is diminished now that he is gone from it.
– Ellie (Beers) Amico

Walter McIver was so effective that he could enable almost any interested person to sing. A common statement around campus was "he could make even a telephone pole sing." He was also an artful choir director.
— Burtt E. Sweet

I really enjoyed Walter McIver as my Voice Teacher. My training in voice is paying off now. I just loved choir...
— Nancy L. Norris Branyan

In 1971, Walt received an award that commemorated his 25-year tenure as director of the choir.

In May 1996, the Choir celebrated its 50th anniversary. Here, Walt welcomes an alum back to Clarke Chapel.

Walter McIver passed away on April 17, 2003.
Following is his obituary.

Walter's photo in the 1955 scrapbook, which was dedicated to the McIvers.

Walter George McIver, 90, of Rochester, New York, died Thursday night, April 17, 2003, at Rochester General Hospital, surrounded by his family.

Mr. McIver was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, the fourth of four children of William and Jean McIver. After graduating as student council president of Collinwood High School, he attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. While there he met and married Beulah Newman of Portsmouth, Ohio. They were married sixty-three years, until her death in 1999.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster, Mr. and Mrs. McIver moved to Harrisburg, PA. Mr. McIver headed the music program at Market Square Presbyterian Church and founded the Harrisburg Symphony Choir. In 1940, their first child, Ann McKay (Kay) was born.

The family moved to Williamsport, PA, in 1942, where Mr. McIver directed the music program at Covenant Central Presbyterian Church and later founded the Williamsport Civic Choir. Four years later, Mr. McIver began teaching at Lycoming College. He taught there for 30 years, founding the Lycoming College Choir, which is conducted by his successor, Fred Thayer. Mr. McIver led the Lycoming College Choir on two tours of England. He and his wife sang in a State Department-sponsored choir that toured Africa in 1959.

In 1942 William Walter was born to Beulah and Walter, followed by Robert Hugh in 1948. Both sons are professors of voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Kay is a retired bank officer.

Mr. McIver's education continued with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Bucknell University and a Master of Arts in Music from New York University in 1955.

After he retired in 1976, Mr. and Mrs. McIver worked as volunteers in mission for the Presbyterian Church, serving in homes for children in Nashville, TN, and Banner Elk, NC. Eventually they settled in Salisbury, NC. After Beulah McIver's death, Mr. McIver married Mrs. Lillian Smith in 2001, whom he met in Salisbury. They moved to Rochester and resided in the Chapel Oaks Retirement Community.

Mr. McIver is survived by his widow, Lillian McIver; his three children and their spouses: Ann (Kay) McKay McIver Reilly, William and Dana McIver, and Robert and Karen McIver; his eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Bonnie Newman Thornhill of Seguin, TX; and brother-in-law Charles Newman of Portsmouth, OH.

Memorial services will be held in Clarke Chapel at Lycoming College, Williamsport, at 4:00 p.m., Sunday, April 27. The family will greet friends in the Wertz Student Center from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial gifts be made to the McIver Recital Series at the Development Office, Lycoming College, 700 College Place, Williamsport, PA 17701.

In every life, there is someone who inspires you. Someone who pushes you to the very edge but doesn't let you fall over the edge because they believe in you and know how to achieve the very best possible things from you, in you and with you.

  Fred helped us to create the music that lives with us, that is always there to remind us of the people, the places, and the events that shaped our lives. Fred shaped my life. He taught me what true commitment was and what it was like to feel so proud of what you accomplished. It was truly an honor to sing in Fred Thayer's choir and I am truly so grateful to him for giving me that opportunity.

   Choir was made up of so many wonderful individuals, people who devoted their time and talent because they loved the art of making music, but they also loved and respected Fred. Lycoming College is so very fortunate to have Fred Thayer and so are the hundreds of choir members that will walk through the doors of Clarke Chapel and are greeted by someone who will impact them for the rest of their lives.
   You are simply the best, Fred. Thank you for bringing out the best in all of us.
— Laura LeValley Van Velthoven

I remember, love, and appreciate Fred Thayer – one of the few "Gentle Giants" I've been blessed to know.
— Laurie Lesher-Lockcuff

"Disco Fred" on the tour bus in 1978.

Fred in academic regalia, 1996.