Katherine Plank

Katherine Plank passed away February 1, 2025 at the age of 72 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).  She was born August 14, 1952 in Bowdon, Georgia, the daughter of the Revd. Edward Straney and June Hourigan Straney Bridgewater, and grew up in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.  She was a graduate of Seneca High School and the University of Louisville School of Music, where she took degrees in organ performance and music education.  It was in college that she met her husband, Steven Plank, marrying in 1973.  Their fifty-one-year marriage was filled with the deepest love of each other, of family, of faith, and of music.

Her career included teaching school music in St. Louis, Missouri and North Ridgeville, Ohio (Lake Ridge Academy), private music instruction, and work as the director of music in a number of parish churches, with a particularly long and rich tenure at Christ Episcopal Church in Oberlin, Ohio.  But it is as founding director of the Oberlin Choristers that she found her musical home, building a children’s choral program of remarkable success that included regular international and domestic tours, exciting local concert series, educational outreach, and hundreds upon hundreds of students who learned not only to sing, but to sing from the heart under her loving guidance.

The love she showed to her students echoed the love she brought to nurturing family and home life in Oberlin, where she and her husband raised their two children, the Revd. Erika Plank Hagan (Andrew) and Aidan Andrews Plank (Charlotte).  Prodigious reading, study, enthusiastic cooking, a rich devotional life, and the avid following of sports characterized her retirement years, but no activity was more dear than being “Grandma,” which she did with boundless love and care.

Her compassion, her generosity, and her buoyant spirit made her a beloved friend to many, who now mourn the loss of so extraordinary a companion. 

She is survived by her adoring husband, their two children and their spouses; four grandchildren, Richard Isaac Hagan, Kai Andrews Hagan, Charles Ananda Plank, and Oliver David Plank; a sister, Rebecca Russell (Joseph); brothers-in-law, Karl A. Plank (Kathleen), Mark C. Plank (Michelle) and Joseph Russell; nieces, Elizabeth Russell (Richard Sandford), Hannah Plank and Lena Plank, and her mother-in-law, Joyce Plank. 

She was preceded in death by her parents and her father-in-law, Charles Plank.

The family is grateful for the care that she received from the care-givers at First Light, whose skill and compassion both enabled and graced her final year.  Crystal Zody, Rae-Vehn Fox, Tanya Domer, Sierra Clark, Erin Bryce, and Courtney Starkey have our deepest gratitude.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Oberlin Choristers, the ALS Association, Christ Episcopal Church, or a charity of the giver’s choice.

Visitation will be Friday, February 7, 2025 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Dicken Funeral Home, 323 Middle Avenue, Elyria, Ohio.  There will be a requiem mass, Saturday, February 8, 2025 at noon at Christ Episcopal Church, 162 S. Main Street, Oberlin, Ohio. 

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