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For Immediate Releas ‘Clerk of the Works’ Who Oversaw Final Construction of Cathedral Has Died Washington-Canon Richard T. Feller, Clerk of the Works at Washington National Cathedral from 1957 until 1991 died Saturday, April 5 in Bethesda, MD. He was 84. Canon Feller, as Clerk of the Works, was chief administrator in charge of all construction and artwork for the cathedral. He oversaw all aspects of design and construction of the sixth largest cathedral in the world. On September 29, 1990 Canon Feller stood atop the southwest corner of the St. Paul tower and helped guide the final stone of the cathedral. This event concluded 83 years of construction. The next day he retired. At the request of the Dean he continued to keep an office and work as the official Cathedral Art Consultant for unfinished works and preservation. He joined the Cathedral staff in 1953 as an accountant. He was born in Fairmount, West Virginia, raised in Martinsburg, and graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Dean Francis B. Sayre, Jr. appointed him Clerk of the Works in 1957. In June 1976 he assumed the additional responsibility of Cathedral Administrator. However, after three years he relinquished this position to devote full time to the cathedral’s construction and the arts. In 1982 he became one of the first laypersons of an Anglican cathedral to be bestowed the title of Canon. The following year the Washington chapter of the American Institute of Architects awarded him a citation for his contributions to Excellence in Architecture. In 1992 he was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of West Virginia University. He also received an honorary Doctor of Letters from his alma mater. He leaves behind his wife Wilma Gertrude Stenger, two children Richard S. and Nancy Carol, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. # # # —Office of Public Affairs |