People contributing to funeral costs of deceased Fox organist Larry-Douglas Embury sent their donations in so fast “it made my head spin,” said Laura Shore.
The organist died Feb. 19 but on Thursday his body remained unclaimed at the county morgue.
Shore and a group of friends gathered Sunday night in an impromptu memorial for Embury, and decided to start a crowd-funded account to help cover cremation costs.
Embury was well-known for performing on the “Mighty Mo,” the Fox’s massive theatrical organ. He had retired only a few months before he died, according to Shore.
“He was not a planner but he was the consummate performer,” she said.
The GoFundMe account reached its $2,000 goal in just two days, said Shore, and then kept rising until it reached $2,700. “We had far exceeded (the goal) by the time I could get it shut down,” she said. “It was so wonderful, it was really, really wonderful.”
Patrick Bailey, director of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, said the office is in touch with Embury’s family, and is working to resolve the situation.
Embury began performing at the Fox in 2002, when the theater asked him to become the permanent organist in residence, playing the Moller organ at summer festivals and for an hour before most major shows.
The gold-leafed organ console is an impressive sight when it rises out of the orchestra pit on its pneumatic elevator. Embury was impressive himself, favoring sequinned tuxedos and bright red shoes. “He was a very flashy kind of performer,” Fox Theatre president and CEO Allan Vella told the AJC.
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