Paul Lawrence Guyer

Paul Lawrence Guyer, 69 of Fishers, Indiana, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away peacefully on April 23rd after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on August 25th 1956, he was the son of the late Hazel (Beard) Guyer and C. Albert Guyer. Paul had a nearly 30 year career in IT, but his true passion was music. He spent 50 years as an organist and choir director for Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Church of the Brethren congregations.

He graduated in 1979 from Westminster Choir College and completed his graduate work in Choral Conducting at Kent State. In college he sang under the direction of Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, and Robert Shaw. Later in life he was active in the American Guild of Organists and served as the Dean of both the Northeast Ohio and Indianapolis chapters. He also sang for six years with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and volunteered with the Youth Fellowship at St. Paul’s Church of Indianapolis.

Paul’s favorite hobby was playing music, but he also loved studying languages and spoke German, French, Italian, Hungarian, Mandarin, and was learning Arabic. He also loved reading and was involved in the book group at St. Paul’s. Most especially he loved spending time with his grandchildren.

Paul married Donna (Wilson) Guyer on August 24th, 1980. He is survived by his loving wife, two children: Mark Guyer (Michele) of Fishers, Indiana; Elyse Pirzada (Ivan) of Boston, Massachusetts – and three grandchildren: Theodore, Luca, and Penelope Guyer of Fishers, Indiana. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, C. Steven Guyer.

A celebration of Paul’s Life will be held on May 2nd at 11:00am at St. Paul’s Church in Indianapolis. Visitation hours will begin at 10:00am. In honor of Paul’s memory, please consider a donation to Heifer International (www.heifer.org), The Gathering Place (www.touchedbycancer.org) or PanCan, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org)