After 30 years of pumping up congregation, Ratajak takes a bow

By Carol Reeves
Gazette-Times reporter

After spending about two-thirds of her life as a church organist, one has to wonder if Bev Ratajak will be able to keep her fingers and toes from twitching and wiggling to the beat of the music after she retires next week and begins sitting in a pew alongside everyone else.

For the past 30 years, Ratajak has ascended to the organ bench at the center of the sanctuary at First United Methodist Church nearly every Sunday to play the classical hymns and anthems she loves so much. This weekend, that career comes to an end.

The 59-year-old Ohio native will perform a retirement concert Saturday afternoon and accompany the Methodist congregation and choir for the last time during the 11 a.m. Sunday worship service. A reception will follow both to give those who have appreciated her music over the years a chance to say goodbye.

"I don't really know this church without Bev, and I know that's true for lot of our church members," said the Rev. Ann Bateman, minister for servanthood at First Methodist. "I'm personally going to miss her a lot, and I know the congregation will miss her greatly, too."

Playing the organ in church has always been a great joy, Ratajak said, but she and her husband bought a home in Scio about seven years ago that she says needs attention. The long commute into Corvallis several times a week has grown tiresome and after thousands of preludes and postludes over the years, few would argue she has earned a break.

"It took awhile to decide to leave because I have always felt appreciated here," Ratajak said.

"For example, they sit and listen to my postlude instead of getting up to leave as soon as the service is over. That means a lot to me."

When pressed to share what was most rewarding about being a church organist, Ratajak had a hard time narrowing the list.

"I really enjoy playing top-quality music and the organ at First Methodist is really a fine instrument. I also like the ministry of bringing some kind of help to people when they're going through a crisis — memorial services are really meaningful for me," she said.

Bateman estimated the two of them have probably done at least 50 or 60 memorial services together and praised Ratajak for the way she cares for people through the music she plays.

"She relates to individuals in our congregation. That's well beyond what an organist would normally do. She remembers the preferences of people when it comes to music, and she has an incredible sense of connection with the people that's been phenomenal for me to work with," Bateman said.

Ratajak began to play the piano at age 7. At 14, she decided to switch to the organ and started playing for worship services at her church. She received a music degree from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., and has taken organ classes at Lewis & Clark College in Portland and master classes and workshops in Europe.

"I took a liking to church music at a very early age. The beautiful hymns and choir anthems — they just appealed to me," Ratajak said, adding she's been playing the same classics as long as she can remember.

The Methodist church hired Ratajak to play for its traditional worship service in 1974, shortly after moving to Corvallis from Boston, where her husband crafted harpsichords and clavichords. The church's 8:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. services feature more contemporary music.

"The people in each service are very dedicated to the music of those services. They don't really like change," Ratajak said. "The one I play for is a more ‘reflective' service that offers the great church music of the ages."

Ratajak, who also played the organ for one of three weekend masses at Corvallis' St. Mary's Catholic Church for about 15 years, said she enjoys using a variety of music in worship that fits the theme of each service.

"Good liturgy is like a drama. You don't want to play music that's totally out of character."

Ratajak will continue to play the organ occasionally at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Scio, the couple's new church home after Sunday. But she will not have to spend the 16 to 20 hours a week she has dedicated over the years to plan each service's music, rehearse with the choir and practice her solos on the huge tracker action pipe organ at First Methodist. She'll no longer have to worry about finding a replacement when she wants to go on vacation, a task that became increasingly difficult over the years.

She hopes to spend more time pursuing her interest in Celtic music, especially by accompanying Welsh hymn singing festivals called "gymanfa ganus" throughout Canada and the United States. One of her biggest honors was being invited once to play for a national gymanfa ganu that featured about 700 singers.

According to Bateman, a committee at First United Methodist Church has already started to look for someone to succeed Ratajak, hopefully by fall. During the summer, the church only has one morning worship service accompanied by a pianist.

The search will be difficult though, she said.

"Our world is not producing many church organists anymore, especially ones like Bev."