Warren G. Hunke, 89
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Warren George Hunke, 89, died Thursday, July 29, 2010, at North Adams Regional Hospital, following more than a year of care at Williamstown Commons. He had resided at 20 Mount Williams Drive since 1991.
Born in New York City in October 1920, the only child of Harry and Lillian Hunke, he was raised in Weekawken, N.J., graduating in 1938 from Woodrow High School there. He graduated in 1942 from Williams College, where he majored in English, was president of the Glee Club, co-founded the Octet and sang in the college choir. He earned his master's degree in 1962 from Columbia University, where he studied choral directing at Juilliard and at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood) with Robert Shaw.
An Army Air Forces veteran of World War II, he served as a first lieutenant in Europe.
Mr. Hunke had a distinguished career in music, first as director of the Village Chorus in Millburn, N.J., and then as director of music at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y., from 1949 to 1963. He later worked at the former WKOB radio station in North Adams, as director of development at Historic Deerfield and for Tiffany & Co. in New York City and Beverly Hills, Calif.
He was an active Williams alumnus, inspiring and directing the Octet Alumni reunion concerts from 1947 to 2007, establishing a popular college tradition. In more recent years, he sang and played solo benefit concerts for Berkshire Food Project, Greylock ABC, Special Olympics Berkshire, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, and the Milne Public Library.
He leaves no immediate family, but instead hundreds of admiring and loyal tenors, baritones and basses from both Hackley and Williams alumni who hold him in the very highest esteem and devotion. On Nov. 18, 2009, 51 Williams College Octet members produced a concert tribute to his leadership and his "magical" musical arrangement.
FUNERAL NOTICE - A memorial service for Mr. Hunke will take place in mid-September at St. John's Episcopal Church in Williamstown, the time and date to be announced. Private burial will take place in George Washington Memorial Park Cemetery in Paramus, N.J.
Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams, is in charge of arrangements.