Shirley Sprunger King, 78, died at home on Aug. 31, 2024. She was born Nov. 1, 1945, to Vernon and Lilly (Bachmann) Sprunger, missionaries in the Belgian Congo.

From a boarding school in Africa and Concord High School in Indiana, she went on to Bluffton College where she learned to play and love the organ. She received a master’s degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. There she met Vernon King. They were married in Covington, Ky., on June 13, 1969.

In 1970 they moved to Atlanta, where Vernon was a Voluntary Service unit leader and Shirley worked with music at the public library and a radio station. They later served as country liaisons for Mennonite Central Committee in Haiti. 

After a move to Newton, Kan., she began a 25-year career as Music Department chair and organ instructor at Bethel College. She also served as organist at Bethel College Mennonite Church. She was the organist-harpsichordist for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra for 26 years.

She shared her talents as a recitalist, presenter of church music workshops and organ consultant. She was elected to the Board of the National Guild of Organists. In 1987, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in Argentina. She received her DMA from the University of Kansas in 1988.

In 2003, she began a new role as dean of academic advising and organ instructor at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. 

Vernon and Shirley retired in Goshen, Ind., in 2014, and Eighth Street Mennonite Church and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary welcomed a fine organist.

She cherished music and gifted this love to her students. Long after they graduated, she maintained contact with students, played at their weddings and followed their families’ lives. In 2023, her students honored her with a recital. Her deep faith showed when she chose music for funerals.

She loved to cook and was hospitality personified. Giving the gift of food to others was her great joy. She had an open and inquisitive mind. She valued diversity. She enjoyed traveling. She tempered strong opinions with kindness and generosity. 

Survivors include her husband, Vernon; sons Tillman (Jennifer) and Ethan (Amy); four grandsons; and a brother, Wilmer Sprunger (Kenlyn). 

Memorials may be made to Mennonite Central Committee.