Marlys Harp
Marlys Jean Harp of Brighton died peacefully Feb. 21, 2022, at the age of 81, surrounded by friends and family. Marlys was born April 25, 1940, to Lorenz and Esther (Meyer) Einspahr at the Einspahr home just north of Holyoke.
She was baptized May 12, 1940, at Zion Lutheran Church in Holyoke and was confirmed there on April 11, 1954. Marlys attended Holyoke public schools and graduated from Phillips County High School with the class of 1958. Her class was small but mighty, and to this day they continue gathering for reunions every five years and reminiscing, a highlight of Marlys’ social calendar that she looked forward to planning and attending.
From a very early age, Marlys demonstrated a talent and love for music. Marlys first served as a professional musician when she became the organist at Zion in Holyoke, setting her on a lifelong career as a leader of music in the church. She attended Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University) in Seward, Nebraska, and graduated in 1964 with a degree in education.
Even before graduation, Marlys began her teaching career, landing a position at Zion Lutheran School in Brighton. Marlys taught hundreds of students at Zion in more than 25 years, leading music for the school and teaching first grade. Her students remember her strict-but-kind teaching style and still fondly recall the elaborate spring concerts and Christmas programs that she would organize each year.
Marlys loved practicing organ and piano and eventually became the organist and director of music at Zion, a position she would hold for over 50 years until her retirement in 2015. She briefly served in the same capacity at Mount Zion Lutheran Church in Denver as well and continued playing as a substitute organist for various congregations in the Denver area and northern Colorado even after her retirement.
Her church was the center of her life, and she participated in social and community outreach activities of the church outside of music, including several terms as president of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League.
Marlys established the bell choir program at Zion in the early 1970s and built a highly regarded program that at one time included as many as four bell choirs that performed at bell festivals throughout the area. Her knowledge and dedication to the art of bell ringing led her to serve as the Rocky Mountain region president of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers.
Children’s choirs, vocal choirs, bell choirs and soloists — Marlys loved entertaining her congregation and community, complete with costumes and corny jokes. Even as she was in the hospital, she was jotting down ideas for her next program.
Marlys enjoyed hosting meetings of the Brighton Euterpean Society, where she and her musically inclined friends would entertain each other with solos and collaborations followed by coffee and conversation. She also lent her talents to Brighton Music, accompanying and participating in orchestral concerts several times each year.
Marlys met and married her husband of 52 years, Robert “Bob” Harp, in 1965, falling in love with him even though he “couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.” They were the last couple to be married at the old Zion Lutheran Church on Strong Street before the church moved across town.
Together they would raise two sons, Vaughn and David, in whom Marlys instilled her passion for music, bringing them up to play violin, piano and several other instruments. Her home was perpetually filled with music.
Her love of music was surpassed only by her love of family. Marlys relished every opportunity to get together with relatives and was a legendary hostess, known especially for highly competitive card tournaments and game nights.
She particularly delighted in seeing her granddaughter, Aurelia, perform and blossom into a pianist, singer, dancer and actress. Marlys’ final public appearance on the organ was with Aurelia on Christmas Eve 2021 at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Moorestown, New Jersey, where they played a piano/organ duet with hardly a dry eye in the congregation.
Marlys was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, and her son, Vaughn.
She is survived by her son, David and Kristin Harp; granddaughter, Aurelia; three siblings, Vivian A. Ruby of Brush, Clyde D. Einspahr and wife Phyllis of Holyoke, and Byron B. Einspahr of St. Petersburg, Florida; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life was held March 1 at Zion Lutheran Church in Brighton. Burial followed at Elmwood Cemetery in Brighton.
Memorials honoring Marlys may be designated to Zion Lutheran Church Music Fund. To donate online, go to zionbrighton.org, click “Give Now” and select “Memorial Fund,” or donate by mail to 1400 Skeel St., Brighton, CO 80601.
Tabor Funeral Home in Brighton was entrusted with the arrangements.