Factiva

S. Eliot Breneiser of Eleanor Court, a retired music professor at Old Dominion University, died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 1998, in a local hospital.

He was born in Santa Maria, Calif., the son of the late Stanley G. Breneiser and Elizabeth Day Breneiser. He is survived by his wife, Violet Kathryn Breneiser; two sisters, Marrie Ewing of Santa Fe, N.M., and Cathryn Darling of Redmond, Ore.; a brother, J. Valentin Breneiser of Santa Fe, N.M.; and several nieces and nephews.

At the time of his retirement in 1986 from the faculty of O.D.U., Mr. Breneiser had taught in the Music Department for 35 years. He held the rank of professor. Mr. Breneiser was an alumnus of Pomona College and held graduate degrees from Claremont Graduate School and the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. His courses at O.D.U. included Piano, Theory, Form and Analysis and 20th Century Techniques. From 1954 until his retirement, he directed the O.D.U. Madrigal Singers. He helped organize the annual Madrigal Christmas Banquet, which has become a tradition at O.D.U.

Among his awards and honors were the B.S. Allen Music Prize (Pomona College) and the Tonelson Distinguished Faculty Award at O.D.U. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa.

During his long career at O.D.U., he served on numerous boards and committees at the university. These included the Concert Series Board and the Credit Union Board. He was the faculty representative to the Board of Visitors 1969-1970 and served on the Presidential Search Committee in 1975-76, the Academic Vice President Search Committee, 1978-80, and the Search Committee for the Dean of the School of Arts and Letters, 1974-75. He was a member of the original faculty senate and later served the university senate as chair for three years, vice chair, secretary and executive council member. He was the University Marshall from 1979 until his retirement.

Mr. Breneiser was active in music organizations locally, statewide, and nationally. He served as secretary-treasurer and, later, as chairman of the Virginia Music Education Association and as a committee member in both the Music Educators National Conference and the Virginia Music Teachers Association. He was secretary and also vice president of the Norfolk Choral Association and was a consultant for the Virginia Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He judged various music competitions including the Bartok Competition in Washington, D.C., and the Virginia Pops International Piano Competition. He served on the boards of the Feldman Chamber Music Society and the Williamsburg Chamber Music Society. He was for many years a choral adjudicator and clinician for public schools of the area.

Mr. Breneiser was a member of the board of directors of the Virginia Society of Ornithology and the Cape Henry Audubon Society. He was a board member of Town'n Gown, and also was chairman of the Monday Night Norfolk Round Table for the past several years. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War II.

Mr. Breneiser directed that his body be donated to the enlightenment of medical science. A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, in the chapel of Cox Funeral Home. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Nature Conservancy, Virginia Chapter, 1233-A Cedars Court, Charlottesville, Va. 22903-4800 or to a charity of choice.

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