A longtime Fort Wayne community and theater activist died Wednesday at Lutheran Hospital following an accident.

Embassy Theatre Executive Director Kelly Updike said Dyne Pfeffenberger, 71, will be greatly missed at the theater, where he worked as an organist, active volunteer and board member since 1956.

“He made the Embassy what it is. We will greatly miss Dyne. He was an active force for a very long time,” she said.

Pfeffenberger’s longtime friend Becky Sumpter, of Fort Wayne, remembers him as humble and giving. “This community is going to have a big hole to fill. He was a multitalented man,” she said.

“He’s a very accomplished man. It’s unbelievable how many lives this man has touched,” said Pfeffenberger’s nephew Todd Braun, of Bellefontaine, Ohio. Born and raised in Celina, Ohio, Pfeffenberger attended International Business College, University of Dayton and Ball State University. He taught at International Business College and Ball State, and came to IPFW in 1972. He retired in 2001.

Pfeffenberger was one of the original volunteers who was instrumental in saving the Embassy from demolition in the 1970s. He served as treasurer and historian of the Embassy Theatre Foundation, treasurer of ARCH, the Fort Wayne Historical Preservation Society, vice president and president for the Citizens Advisory Board for public radio WBNI, and premier organist on the Embassy’s Grande Page. He also wrote the book “The Historic Fort Wayne Embassy Theatre,” released this year.

A Mass of Christian burial is 10 a.m. Monday at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 1122 S. Calhoun St. Calling is one hour prior and also 2-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sunday at McComb & Sons Maplewood Park Funeral Home, 4017 Maplecrest Road. Burial at 3:30 p.m. Monday at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Celina, Ohio.

Memorials can be made to the Immaculate Conception Church in Celina, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, Embassy Theatre Foundation Endowment Fund or Northeast Public Radio Inc.