William George Lantz, II, 92, formerly of Gates Mills, Ohio, died on Saturday, May 11, 2013, at Friendship Village of Dublin, where he and his wife have lived for the past ten years.
He grew up on the family farm in New Palestine, and participated in livestock 4-H clubs where he raised and showed the Indiana State Grand Champion steer when he was ten.
In 1942, Mr. Lantz graduated with honors from Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music with a major in piano and a minor in organ. While there he was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, the honorary music fraternity. He served as a master sergeant in the medical corps of the Army during World War II. In 1945 he married an Oberlin College classmate, Jane Osterland of Shaker Heights, Ohio.
From 1946 until he retired in 1980, Mr. Lantz was the president of the G. R. Osterland Company in Cleveland. Mr. Lantz served as the organist for Mt Olive Lutheran Church in Cleveland Heights for twenty-seven years. He was a trustee of the Cleveland Music School Settlement for thirty years, and he served as a volunteer at the Hillcrest Hospital in Cleveland. He was a member of St. Christopher’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church in Gates Mills, Ohio for 65 years where he served on the vestry and was the co-chair of the committee that commissioned a pipe organ that was designed and built by Gerhard Hradetzky of Austria.
He is survived by his wife, of 67 years, Jane Osterland Lantz; three children, Susan (James Chilenski) of Lancaster, Ohio, William, III (Natalie LeRoy) of Franklin, Ind., and Robert (Susan Gold) of Hilliard, Ohio; six grandchildren, John Dippel (Janan) of Omaha, Neb., George Dippel (Jean) of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., William Lantz, IV (Jennifer) of Indianapolis, Hope McMickle (Rich) of Franklin, Ind., Brian Lantz and Eric Lantz, both of Hilliard, Ohio; six great-grandchildren; niece, Jennifer Wilson Johnson (Alvin) of Fritch,Texas.
Mr. Lantz was preceded in death by his parents, George C and Mina G Lantz and his sister, Anna Lantz Wilson, all of New Palestine.
There will be a memorial service at 4 p.m., on Sunday, May 19, 2013, at Friendship Village in Dublin. A memorial service at 11:30 a.m., on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, St. Christopher’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church in Gates Mills. A private burial will be at the Gates Mills Cemetery.
Those who wish may make a memorial donation to the St Christopher’s Organ Concert Committee, St Christopher’s-by-the-River Episcopal Church, 7601 Old Mill Rd, Gates Mills, OH. 44040.
Newcomer Funeral Home, NE Chapel, 3047 East Dublin-Granville Road, Columbus, Ohio, is honored to serve the Lantz Family.
Messages of condolence may be left at www.NewcomerColumbus.com.
