Rodney J. Rothlisberger died on December 16, 2024, in Anacortes, Washington.
(The following was provided by Legacy.com on December 16, 2025:)
Rodney John Rothlisberger, of Anacortes, Washington, was born to Forrest and Ellen (Wright) Rothlisberger on May 13, 1940, in Bottineau, North Dakota. He graduated from Bottineau High School in 1958, and completed music degrees at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota; the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He married Gay Elaine Mohr on December 20, 1975, in Fargo, North Dakota.
Dr. Rothlisberger’s career in choral music included directing choirs at St. Olaf; the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York; Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine; the University of Colorado at Boulder; Berea College, Berea, Kentucky; Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota; and finally, Minnesota State University Moorhead, retiring in 2012. He also taught choral music in public high schools in Anacortes, Washington; Melbourne Chorale; and Moorhead, Minnesota. In addition, he served on the faculty of the International Music Cargo for fourteen summers and directed the International Ambassadors of Music Choir on several European tours.
As an organist, Dr. Rothlisberger served churches in North Dakota, Washington, New York, Australia and Minnesota; and was Dean of the Red River Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), as well as Minnesota State Convener, and chair of the National Committee on Chapter Development. He was the College Organist at the Bowdoin College, Mayville State University, and MSU-Moorhead.
In addition to the AGO, he held memberships in the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education (formerly MENC), and the National Association of Teachers of Singing and served on the governing boards of Fargo-Moorhead Opera, the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, and the Lake Agassiz Arts Council. He was first listed in Who’s Who Among American Teachers in 1990 and in Who’s Who in America in 1998.
Throughout his life, he was an avid reader, amassing a library of several thousand volumes, and was a traveller, having lived on three continents and travelled in over sixty countries.
He was predeceased by his parents, his brothers, William and Richard. He is survived by several nieces and nephews.