Douglas T. Decatur; Operatic Tenor, Voice Teacher

Douglas T. Decatur, 48, operatic tenor and voice teacher who tutored such entertainers as Delta Burke and Dyan Cannon. A native of New York who grew up in North Carolina, he studied with private teachers and at the North Carolina School of the Arts. After touring Italy, Decatur sang with the International Opera Center of the Zurich Opera based in Switzerland. In the United States, he also was a soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Choral Society and the New York Choral Society. For the past decade, he concentrated on teaching, particularly tutoring entertainers for popular music and musical theater. Besides Burke and Cannon, his students included Meredith Baxter, Gary Beach and Patrick Cassidy. On Aug. 28 in Los Angeles of the complications of AIDS.