Gustaf Holmquist, recognized as the greatest Swedish-American singer, died here May 12. Death was caused by a heart attack, which occurred in a taxicab in the Loop, as Holmquist was returning home from a concert in Ottumwa, Iowa. The driver, in noticing that his fare had collapsed in the cab, raced to Saint Luke's Hospital, where the stricken passenger was pronounced dead. Holmquist had been suffering from a heart ailment for a number of years, and had been under the treatment of Dr. Roberg, of the Swedish Mission Hospital in Bowmanville.

To his intimate friends, therefore, his death did not come as a shocking surprise, but the general public did not know that the great singer with the powerful physique, who looked the picture of health, was a sick man. Within a few 2hours, the news of his death spread throughout the city, causing sorrow not only among his personal friends and acquaintances but also among the thousands who had heard him sing and who had come to admire and love him. The funeral took place yesterday under the auspices of the King Oscar Free Mason Lodge Church services were held in the New England Congregational Church, Dearborn Street and Delaware Place. Interment was at Rosehill cemetery.

Gustaf Holmquist was born in Nora, Vastmanland, Sweden, and came to America at the age of thirteen. His family settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was twenty-one years old when he began to study singing under A. W. Porter. He interrupted his studies to go to Alaska, where he remained for one year. In 1900, he came to Chicago, which he made his home from that time on.

He had already been engaged as soloist with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, when as soloist with the Evanston Musical Club he won a thirty-five-hundred-dollar prize for that organization 3at the World's Fair in St. Louis.

Holmquist was much in demand as a teacher, and he taught at the North Park College in this city. For some time he conducted a studio of his own before becoming a teacher at the Chicago Musical College. During the last few years, he was associated with the Bush Conservatory of Music, and was so popular and busy as a song teacher that students considered themselves lucky if they could obtain half an hour's instruction each week from him.

He achieved full artistic recognition in 1909, when Damrosch engaged him as soloist with the New York Philharmonic Society for its concert tour of America. During this tour, he won acclaim as one of the country's foremost singers. He also became widely known in Sweden when, in the summer of 1910, he accompanied the Swedish-American Elite Choir as its soloist on its triumphant tour of that country.

During the winter of 1910-1911, he studied in Paris under the famous 4Jean De Reske and also under Oscar Siegel. The following summer, he gave twenty-eight concerts in Sweden; the pianist Paul Hultman was his accompanist.

Holmquist's voice was best adapted to the oratorio, in which it excelled. He was recognized as one of the foremost American performers--if not the foremost --of the bass parts of such compositions as Handel's "Messiah," and Haydn's "the Creation," and similar works. On several occasions, he appeared as soloist at the "Messiah" concerts in Lindsborg, Kansas, and at the Swedish Choral Club's concerts here in Chicago; and he also accompanied this organization an its triumphant tour of Sweden. When the Club presented the oratorio "The Creation" in Orchestra Hall only three weeks ago, he appeared as soloist. On that occasion, we commented on the fact that Holmquist was in top form, and that he had succeeded in preserving and even in improving the tonal qualities of his voice at an age when most singers begin to show signs of decline. Death thus came while he was still at the zenith of his career. His last appearance before the Swedish public of Chicago was made a week ago last Sunday at the final 5concert of the Swedish Glee Club. He sang the solo part in Wilt's "The Night" and received a stirring ovation. As it turned out, that appearance was indeed final.

Holmquist had many engagements in some of the city's largest churches. He also performed as soloist with the foremost American singing club, the Apollo Musical Club of Chicago, as well as with the Sunday Evening Club. He was scheduled to be heard on the latter's radio broadcast last Sunday night, but death intervened.

Holmquist's voice had a remarkable range, which made his rendition of a simple Swedish folk-song just as touching and artistic as his performance of a difficult aria in a Wagnerian opera. His personal qualities had much to do with his artistic success, and they also made him very popular in private life. Many people thought him the most charming man they had ever met, and we share that opinion. In these words of farewell, we can pay him no higher tribute than to repeat what all his friends already know: that his artistic and material success never altered his simple and noble personality.