ROCK, Iris Elaine

It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of our family’s matriarch, Iris Elaine Rock (1933-2022). Iris was born almost 30 years to the day that her grandparents arrived in Canada from the Ukraine. Her Ukrainian heritage framed her early years on the prairies. In her twenties she moved to Geraldton, Ontario. There, a newly ordained Lutheran minister, Robert Rock, put out the word that he needed an organist. Iris responded to the request and the rest was history. They spent their early married life in Ontario before moving to Nova Scotia. Music was an integral part of Iris’s life. In 1980, she established the Iris Rock Music Studio on Waverley Road in Dartmouth. It was here that she taught and mentored many piano, theory, harmony, and music history students. She was also a church organist, choir director, and local representative for the Royal Conservatory Exams in Halifax. As a lifelong learner, Iris continued to take piano lessons to expand her jazz repertoire and, in her 80s, began taking art lessons. Her other interests included reading, knitting, canning, and gardening. Iris was a gracious and resolute person and will be greatly missed by her children, Rebecca, Robert and Philip (Sarah); as well as her daughter-in-law, Carol; grandchildren, Jonathan, Joshua (Tasha), Ruth (Ryan), Rachael, Marshall, Miranda; and chosen granddaughter, Jen; great-grandchildren, Nathanael and Callie; her sister, Diane; stepchildren, Stephanie (John) and Jeff (Kelly) and their children Tyler, Mitchell, Parker, and Jack; and special friends Sandra, Ivan, and Muriel. She was predeceased by her son Tim, her first husband, Rev. Robert Rock; and her second husband, Alf Lohnes. A visitation will be held on Friday, October 28 from 6-8 p.m., in the Davis Funeral Home in Chester. A service in celebration of Iris’s life will be held on Saturday, October 29 at 1:00 p.m., in St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mahone Bay followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope for Wildlife in memory of Iris. Her grand piano may have fallen silent, but the spirit of Iris will live on in her family and musicians that she nurtured.