Heather Parr

Born April 25, 1945, in Akron, Ohio, to Cleon “Mike” and Norma (Ferguson) Frank, Heather found her voice early and never stopped using it. She graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1963 and then earned double bachelor’s degrees in French and Music Education from the University of Akron. She completed her Master’s in Voice Performance at the University of Kentucky and her Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance at The Ohio State University.

Her life in music included many great performances as an operatic soprano who also loved singing sacred music, musical theatre, and the Great American Songbook. Highlights range from Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata, Anna in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I, and soprano soloist in oratorios such as Handel’s Messiah and Dvořák’s Mass in D, to recitals of art song at various venues throughout the United States and concerts of Gershwin at area senior living communities.

Always looking for new music to learn, she championed contemporary composers, and in 1973 she performed and recorded the American premiere of Paul Hindemith’s oratorio Das Unaufhörliche (The Perpetual) as the soprano soloist. Her doctoral dissertation on the New York composer and cellist Seymour Barab, and her performances of his songs, led many to discover the wonderful wit and musicality of his works. Heather’s deeply expressive singing could turn any song into a masterpiece. With a rich, powerful voice capable of moving audiences to feel goosebumps and give standing ovations, she performed in a way that both illuminated the genius of the composer and showed the power of sincere, compelling interpretations. Her singing was numinous and her musicality profound.

She was also a lifelong teacher: as professor of voice at Muskingum College, music teacher and choral director at Perry High School in Massillon, occasional conductor of church and community choirs, and private voice instructor of hundreds of students over a 60-year career. Her students were of all ages and abilities, and she knew how to teach them as individual voices, each with their own unique gifts and potential. Some students studied for years, and many became lifelong friends too. Of all her “jobs,” teaching singing was her true vocation, one she never wanted to end. (She was still teaching in March of this year from her one-room studio at Altercare!)

Away from the stage and the studio, Heather loved her garden, where she grew beautiful tulips, lilies, and irises. She also loved watching sports of all kinds and was a devoted fan of every Cleveland team: the Cavs, the Browns, and the Guardians.

Above all, Heather was a very special person. She was a master listener, and highly empathic and perceptive. At the same time, she struggled with anxiety and depression, and knew that she sometimes needed to reset and allow herself to depend on the support of others. She felt things deeply and cherished all of her connections, to her family and to her many friends. She was a light who inspired, who commiserated, who comforted, and who loved. Her care for others was connected to her singing as a way to create community. And her singing was connected to her spirituality, which was always grounded in Christianity. (To paraphrase St. Augustine, those who sing, pray twice.) Her church families were very important to her, and reading the Bible became one of her most treasured routines, especially in her last years.

Heather is survived by her sons, Sean Parr (Karen Meteyer) of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Patrick (Yuka) Parr of Yokohama, Japan; her grandchildren, Thomas and Emily Parr; her brothers, Michael (Ellen) Frank and David Frank; and the many students and friends she counted as family. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Heather’s family is truly grateful for all of her caregivers, from the nurses and aides who provided medical and personal care to the forever friends who brought food, helped her move, provided rides and housing to family, offered a shoulder to cry on, read to her, gave her smiles and laughter, prayed with her, and loved her.

A memorial service celebrating Heather’s life, with the music she loved, will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Bethany United Church of Christ, 1235 Broad Blvd., Cuyahoga Falls, with a reception to follow. All are welcome. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Bethany United Church of Christ in Heather’s memory.

Heather is now singing with the angels.