Dr. Gary Lee Zwicky died at 1:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, April 8, at his home in Oak Park, Ill., after a hard-fought battle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was 77 and was a well-known figure on the Vineyard, where he had been a longtime resident of Aquinnah. A gifted and highly respected musician, Mr. Zwicky touched many lives with his music throughout his lifetime, including on the Island where among other things he had been organist and choirmaster for the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs as well as the director of the Vineyard Haven Band.

He was born June 18, 1934, in Oshkosh, Wis., to George and Bessie (Widmer) Zwicky. He married Elaine Holmes on Aug. 28, 1960, in Vineyard Haven.

Mr. Zwicky earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his doctor of music arts, the first to be given in organ, from the University of Illinois at Champaign. He also was a fellow in the College of Church Musicians at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and earned the Fellowship from the American Guild of Organists (F.A.G.O.), the highest professional degree granted by the guild.

In addition, he served as national director of Guild Student Groups for the American Guild of Organists and as organ chairman and superintendent of Syllabus Publications for the Illinois State Music Teachers Association.

Mr. Zwicky has given recitals throughout the United States and Germany. He was a professor of music at Eastern Illinois University from 1966 to 1994 and served as organist and choirmaster at more than 10 churches in Illinois, Texas, Maryland, and Massachusetts. One of his greatest pleasures was playing keyboard recital duets with his wife, Elaine.

After retiring from EIU, he embarked on a wonderful second career at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs, and as director of the Vineyard Haven Band. He played in a jazz trio and brass quintet on the Vineyard and delighted his grandchildren and others by dressing as a lion tamer while directing performances of The Carnival of the Animals.

Mr. Zwicky and his wife greatly enjoyed many years of retirement in their Aquinnah home on their beloved Island before moving to Oak Park in 2009.

In recent years, he took up the hobby of genealogy, tirelessly researching his and his wife’s families so his children and grandchildren would know their roots.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Fred, and daughter in law, Elise Zwicky of Pekin, Ill; a daughter, Jeanette, and son in law, Gregg Simon of Oak Park, Ill.; grandchildren Megan, Kristen and Sean Zwicky of Pekin, and Hunter and Winston Simon of Oak Park; a brother Warren Zwicky of Washington, D.C.; and brother in law Norman (and Stephanie Crissman) Bauer of Silver Spring, Md., and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Betty Jane Zwicky Bauer, and his brother, LaVerne Zwicky.

Cremation was under the care of Gamboney and Son in Oak Park, Ill. A celebration of life mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on April 28 at Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake St., in Oak Park.

Memorials may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Church Street Station, P.O. Box 780, New York, NY 10008 or to the Vineyard Haven Band at P.O. Box 2187, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.