Dr. Cecil A. Lotief
Deceased: 2024-10-01
Diocese: SAN ANGELO
Seminary Graduation Year: 1963
Dr. Cecil Azar Lotief of Dallas, Texas passed away peacefully at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, Iowa on Tuesday October 1, 2024 at the age of 90. Cecil was born on March 9, 1934 in Cross Plains,Texas. He was the youngest son of Cecil Azar Lotief, Sr. and Margaret (Joseph) Lotief. He grew up in Rotan, Texas with his older siblings, Estelle Lotief and Rudolph Lotief. Cecil’s father emigrated from Lebanon in 1904 at the age of 17, entering the USA at the Port of Houston, Texas. Cecil’s father was a successful businessman, running retail department stores, and a politician (mayor of Rotan 1950s and member of the Texas State House, 1932-1936). Cecil excelled academically and demonstrated a talent, passion, and work ethic for the piano. Under his mother’s supportive and watchful eye, and untold hours of practice, Cecil developed his musical talent to become an accomplished classical pianist. Cecil attributed his extraordinary discipline and drive to his parents, but especially his beloved mother. Cecil graduated from Rotan High School in 1952. He attended the University of North Texas 1952-1956, studying with Silvio Scionti, a world renowned classical concert pianist, conductor, and master teacher who emigrated from Italy. Cecil flourished with discipline and the tutelage of Professor Scionti. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance in 1956. Cecil grew up in a devoutly Roman Catholic Lotief family and he experienced the “call” to serve others, deciding to enter the seminary to become a priest. He enrolled at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston in 1956. He continued his priestly formation at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri. He continued his studies in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome in Latin. Cecil graduated from Conception in 1964. He received the Sacrament of Holy Orders at his Ordination on September 5, 1964. He had both Latin and Maronite Rites. He served in various capacities in the San Angelo Diocese: hospital chaplain, pastor and teacher. Cecil pursued furthering his music education at the University of Texas at Austin in 1967. He earned a Master of Music in Piano Performance in 1971. His first faculty position was at West Texas State University 1971-1973 teaching undergraduates and piano students. He enrolled at the University of Iowa in 1972 to work on his doctorate in performance. He studied and practiced with great discipline and passion. He studied under John C. Simms, the esteemed Chair of Piano at Iowa, who graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and possessed a national reputation for his teaching and playing. Cecil performed several recitals (1973-1978) including Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Hindesmith, Mozart, Liapounow, Rachmaninoff, Scarlatti, and Schubert. John Bull, the English composer and key board player (1562-1628) was the subject of his Doctoral thesis. Cecil earned a Doctor of Musical Arts with emphasis in Piano from the University of Iowa. He was Piano Professor at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas 1975-1985, achieving tenure. Cecil left academia and opened his private studio in southern California from 1985-2007 ending up in Irvine. He developed a reputation for excellence in his teaching methods. His accomplished students won major competitions throughout California and America. He was in high demand for teaching and judging piano competitions across the United States. He moved to Dallas, Texas in 2007 to be near his family. He continued to judge competitions in Iowa, California, and Texas under the auspices of the National Guild of Piano Teachers. He regularly attended the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Opera, the Van Cliburn competitions and concerts. He possessed a loving, open, generous, charming personality and was always supportive, kind, and joyous in every human encounter. He had countless friends as he never met a stranger. His quick wit and skill at sharing jokes was legion. He was a voracious reader. His daily routine for over 60 years was to read the New York Times and/or LA Times beginning to end. He loved books and would read several periodicals including Commonweal, America, NCR, the Atlantic, the Nation, Harpers, the New Yorker, He had an active intellectual and spiritual life. He deeply cared about social justice, equality, fraternity, liberty, democracy, literacy, education and the common good. He would regularly share his latest readings by clipping his periodicals and newspapers and mailing them to his friends to spread knowledge. Cecil was a wordsmith and kept several dictionaries (Oxford English Dictionary, MW, AH) near at hand to luxuriate in definitions, pronunciation, and etymology. He composed letters and notes to his beloved friends and family with wisdom and kindness, penned with his signature excellent script and mailed by post. He remembered all of his loved ones with daily prayer. He loved to travel and would think nothing of dropping everything to drive several hundred miles to visit a friend in need. He was the least materialistic person and the most wealthy in the love of so many souls that he touched. Cecil was preceded in death by his parents, Cecil Azar Lotief and Margaret (Joseph) Lotief, his sister Estelle Lotief and his brother Rudolph A. Lotief. He is survived by his niece Marie Elizabeth (Lotief) Vicknair and nephews Anthony John Lotief, Michael Paul Lotief, Cecil Joseph Lotief, Stephen Rudolph Lotief, and Louis Christopher Lotief and his numerous loving friends. His funeral Mass will be at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, 3811 Oak Lawn Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75219 on Tuesday October 22, 2024 at 10 AM presided by Msgr. Milam Joseph and Rev. Milton Ryan. Rosary preceding Mass at 9:30 AM. Reception is in Trinity Hall after Mass. The Mass will be live-streamed at the following link: Cecil Lotief Funeral Mass https://www.youtube.com/live/ZI5kGt5ITXo. His cremains will be buried near his parents and sister at Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler, Texas at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to Conception Seminary, Pontifical North American College Rome, University of Iowa School of Music Library or a charity of your choice (education, literacy, and social justice).
