A memorial for Foerster and her children will be held Tuesday at Christ Lutheran Church, 69 Mill Street.
Lisa Foerster, an Ohio University assistant professor of voice, died Wednesday. She was 55.
Foerster died in a car accident on State Route 56 in Vinton County along with her sister, Lorraine Alsterberg, 57, and her two children, 18-year-old Thomas Hamel and 19-year-old Emma Hamel, according to an OU news release.
“We are heartbroken to learn of this tragedy,” Elizabeth Sayrs, interim dean of the College of Fine Arts, said in the release. “I know that Lisa was a valued colleague and friend in our community, and her dedication to our students and her delight in music will be long remembered.”
Foerster taught applied voice and opera theater for about two years at OU after she moved from Greensboro, North Carolina, according to the release. She helped direct a recent performance of Urinetown and was director of Opera Theater.
Foerster earned a Bachelor of Music degree in voice from St. Olaf College, according to the release. She earned a Master of Music degree and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
She performed opera for the Lyric Opera Cleveland, spent 13 years singing in Germany and taught at Claflin University in South Carolina for five years as instructor of voice, according to the news release.
“Lisa was one of the most positive and encouraging people I have ever known,” Debra Rentz, chair of the voice program, said in the release. “Her contributions to the School of Music are immeasurable, and her warmth, infectious laugh, talent and enthusiasm will be forever missed.”
A memorial for Foerster and her children will be held Tuesday at Christ Lutheran Church, 69 Mill Street.
@baileygallion
