Nell Bleidt

Brook. She was preceded in death by her husband Dr. Leonard C. Bleidt of

Mountain Brook, her brother Henry T. Finnen, and her parents Johnnie Joseph

Finnen and Flora Fayette Finnen of Birmingham.

She was born in West Blocton, Alabama on January 13, 1927. She graduated

from West Blocton High School and attended Wayne State University and the

Detroit Conservatory of Music. She returned to the University of Alabama where

she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949, majoring in piano with

studies in organ and voice.

In the late 1950's she served as Music Director for WBRC-TV and was active in

the Birmingham opera and theater community. In 1959 she was the understudy

to Irene Jordan in the Birmingham Civic Opera's production of Verdiʼs La

Traviata. In 1960 she sang the role of Despina in the Civic Operaʼs production of

Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti opposite John Brownlee of the Met. In 1965 she moved into

the home she designed around her piano and organ in Mountain Brook, which was

featured in the Church of the Advent's Annual House and Garden Pilgrimage.

In the 1970's, she pursued a graduate degree in organ at Samford University.

She was a member of the Birmingham Civic Opera, the Birmingham Music

Club, the Shades Valley Music Club and the American Guild of Organists.

She is survived by her son Robert Bleidt of Santa Clara, CA.

A funeral service will be held online and at Ridout's Valley Chapel in

Homewood on Sunday, May 7, 2023 at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Email [email protected] or call 205-879-3401 for information.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ridoutsvalleychapel.com for the Bleidt family.