Obituary

Tuesday, January 19,1999
Obituaries

FRANCIS TREFZGER SANG TENOR

Clifton man, 98, toured
before teaching college

The Cincinnati Enquirer

Francis "Franz" Trefzger, a long time
Cincinnati tenor who traveled the world
for His music, died Friday at Beechknoll
Community in North College Hill after a
brief illness.

The Clifton man was 98.

As a young lyric tenor, he studied voice
and languages at the College of Music of
Cincinnati, where he was awarded the
gold medal in Voice.
While in college, he sang In Cincinnati
churches of Various denominations, in
The first Zoo Opera chorus and in the
May Festival chorus. Upon graduation, he
Was granted a fellowship for operatic
performance and study abroad.
Mr. Trefzger and his family lived in Italy,
France, Belgium, and elsewhere in Europe
for five years. He made his operatic debut
near Florence, Italy, in 'Lucia di Lammer-
Moor' in 1930. In 1932-33, he was the
leading tenor pf the opera house in Liege,
Belgium.
In Cincinnati, he sang leading roles with
the Zoo opera, was a soloist with the May
Festival, and fulfilled opera and concert
engagements in cities such as Chicago and
Boston. He received master's degrees from
the College of Music and the University of
Cincinnati.
In the late 1930s, he joined the faculty of
The College of Music, teaching voice and
languages. He served as chairman of the
Faculty Senate. He later taught voice and
languages at Edgecliff College, where he was
chairman of the foreign language depart-
ment.

"All his life, despite what he was doing,
he put his family above everything," said a
daughter, Patricia Overbeck of Clifton.
Survivers include: his wife of 73 years,
Marie Niland Trefzger; another daughter,
Susan Burbank of Santa Fe, N.M.; seven
grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m.
today at Annunciation Church, 3547 Clifton
Ave.
Memorials may be made to Cook Children's
Medical Center, 801 Seventh Ave.,
Fort Worth, Texas 76104.

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