MaryAnn Crugher Balduf, age 85, passed away Sunday, December 25, 2022 at her home surrounded by her family. She was born December 18, 1937 in Owosso, MI, the daughter of Levi and Clara (Kaltrider) Crugher. She married Carl Balduf June 15, 1958 and he survives. In addition to her husband, MaryAnn is survived by her children Owen Lee (Leah) Balduf, Lisa Kay (Louie) Adams, and Sara Lyn (Randy) Adams; grandchildren Sophia Maher, Amanda Maher, Lucas Adams, Clara Adams, and Ella Adams; and great-grandchildren George and Clarice DeMeulenaere. She was preceded in death by her parents.

MaryAnn was well known as an accompanist in the United States and Europe, as well as a recitalist and performance coach throughout North America. She was a studio accompanist at The University of Michigan and Wayne State University in Detroit, and staff accompanist at Eastern Michigan University and the Ann Arbor Public Schools. An organist and choirmaster since the age of 15, MaryAnn has held positions in Ohio, Michigan, New Mexico, and Europe where she was organist-choirmaster for Anglican and military congregations and accompanist for the Seventh Army Soldiers Chorus [Mannheim, Germany]. Soon after returning to the United States, she served 22 years as organist-choirmaster at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Maumee, OH, followed by a post at St. James Episcopal Church in Dexter, MI, and a 12-year organist-choirmaster tenure at Historical St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ypsilanti, MI. MaryAnn was subsequently a much sought-after supply organist throughout the Detroit metropolitan area until her final positions at various Dearborn, MI, churches, including First United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church, and First Presbyterian Church.

MaryAnn continued as an active Ann Arbor area performer and accompanist. Her accompanying credits have included the Plymouth Oratorio Society, Ann Arbor Youth Chorale, Lenawee Community Chorus, Schoolcraft College Choral Union, The American Chorale of Sacred Music, and the Orchard Ridge Choral Society. A frequent recitalist at national conventions of the Organ Historical Society [OHS], she performed on historic organs in Ann Arbor, Colorado Springs, Portland [OR], Denver, Chicago, Montreal, Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Indianapolis, as well as an OHS Upper Hudson Valley mini-convention and a recital on the 1847 Davis and Ferris organ in Round Lake, New York. Her performance credits also include an American Guild of Organists [AGO] regional convention, the Plymouth Michigan Symphony, and the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra. She accompanied for European tours of the award-winning Ypsilanti Chamber Singers [notably playing the organ at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City], the Murray State University Collegiate Chorale, and the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale. Her engagements also included a guest-artist recital at the renowned Mabel Tainter Memorial Theater in Menomonie, Wisconsin, a reed organ recital at the Fayette Opera House, Fayette, Ohio, and a joint organ recital at the First Presbyterian Church, Dearborn, Michigan.

After beginning her piano and organ studies at two with her mother, Clara Kaltrider Crugher, MaryAnn continued her private study with Frances Clark and Roberta Bitgood, and then with Eugene Bossart, Benning Dexter, and Maynard Klein at the University of Michigan. She was active in the Toledo A.G.O., served a long tenure on the Executive Board of the Ann Arbor Chapter AGO, and was the National Secretary of the Organ Historical Society. She was also a long-time member of the St. Cecelia Society,  the Ypsilanti chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, and was initiated as a Patroness Member of Sigma Alpha Iota.

A funeral and memorial service for Carl and MaryAnn will be held 11:00 a.m., Saturday, May 27, 2023, at St. John's Episcopal Church, 2326 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI, 48201; 313-962-7358.