Choir director Alphonso O. Nuckles of St. Paul of the Cross parish in northwest Atlanta died Sunday, May 9, at the age of 32 after being ill for several years.

A graduate of Shorter College in Rome, Ga. with a bachelor’s degree in music, Nuckles directed the choir at St. Paul of the Cross for eight years and also was frequently called upon to lead archdiocesan choirs. In a 1989 interview in The Georgia Bulletin he said he was fascinated with Catholic churches while growing up although he belonged to a Baptist congregation. He studied the Roman Catholic liturgy in music courses and sang at St. Mary’s Church in Rome while a Shorter student. He formally joined the Catholic church at Easter 1992.

Prior to that he belonged to Zion Baptist Church in Roswell, where a memorial service was held May 11. The funeral Mass was celebrated May 12 at St. Paul of the Cross parish.

An energetic conductor, frequently wearing a bow tie with a choir robe, Nuckles is often remembered as one of the special choir directors at the installation Mass for Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, at the Atlanta Civic Center five years ago. He assisted Hamilton Smith and Kevin Culver, particularly helping the archdiocesan-wide choir to sing African American hymns selected for the historic event.

St. Jude parish music director Alan Brown said Nuckles was unique in the archdiocese, classically trained in the full range of music and also very involved in music in the black community. He was active in forming an Archdiocesan Mass Choir and he directed an archdiocesan choir for the 1991 Rite of Election at the Civic Center.

He is survived by this parents, Henry and Carrie Nuckles, Sr. of Roswell and three brothers, Henry, Jr., Reverend James Nuckles and Booker Nuckles, and by several nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations may be made to the Infectious Disease Clinic of Grady Memorial Hospital or St. Paul of the Cross Church.