Remembering Matushka Olga Lutov
Matushka Olga Lutov was born Jeanne Schrepffer on 10 January, 1902 in Lausanne, Switzerland but grew up in Moscow. She won prix premier as pianist and cellist in the French Conservatory of Music. After her schooling she moved to Paris where she was an officer in the Russian Christian Student Movement. There she met her husband, the future Archpriest Paul T. Lutov.
Following marriage, Fr. Paul’s ordination, and the birth of daughter Natasha Lutov in 1932, they moved to Washington, DC in 1937 by invitation of the Dean of Howard University so that Fr. Paul could take a job as Professor of Old Testament. Son Paul P. Lutov was born in 1941.
Matushka Olga was active at St. Nicholas Cathedral from 1937 to 1983, when she became home bound. She fostered hospitality to prospective and new parishioners by welcoming them and supplying them with must-read books on Orthodoxy, and by following up with long phone conversations as needed so that they would to return to St. Nicholas. She and Fr. Paul were godparents or sponsors many times over to seekers who were later chrismated. Her 5 ft. 2” frame next to Fr. Paul’s 6 ft. 4” one was a classic every Sunday.
Every year Matushka would canvas voting parishioners to encourage them to attend the Annual Meeting or arrange proxies for as many as possible to get a true vote. After Fr. Paul’s repose in 1978, she took up his bible study class, meeting at her home. Matushka Olga was elected president of the Dormition Sisterhood (now Dormition Guild) in the mid 1970’s. This surprised her because she was not a cook!
By the early 1980’s Matushka Olga suffered several strokes which rendered her bedridden from 1983 to 1992, but her heart was never far from life at St. Nicholas. One Sunday in spring she was able to attend Liturgy. Parishioners greeted her warmly with great joy, but she never agreed to make the tiring trip again. Matushka reposed on 24 October, 1992 at the age of 91. She lay in a beautiful cherrywood coffin which her son Paul was inspired to build for her. She was buried in Rock Creek Cemetery next to Fr. Paul. May her memory be eternal!
