Bye Bye Springfield: Longtime Simpsons Character Officially Killed Off After 35 Seasons

The long-running show The Simpsons has said a real goodbye to one of its familiar background characters.The Nov. 16 episode showed the sudden death of Alice Glick, the organist at Springfield’s First Church.

She passed away right in the middle of a sermon, surprising fans who have seen her around for more than three decades.

Alice first appeared back in 1991 in the season 2 episode “Three Men and a Comic Book,” where Bart did chores for her so he could earn money for a rare comic. Over the years, she was voiced by Cloris Leachman and later by Tress MacNeille. She showed up many times across 35 seasons.

In the season 37 episode called “Sashes to Sashes,” Springfield Elementary held a memorial for her. During the service, everyone learned that Alice had left all of her money to the school so they could start a new music program.

It was a warm moment that also made it clear her story had reached its end.

Fans might remember that this isn’t the first time the show teased her death. Back in season 22, she was attacked by a malfunctioning Robopet, and viewers were unsure if she had been written off. Still, she continued to appear afterward, sometimes as herself and sometimes even as a ghost. But this time is different.

Executive producer Tim Long told PEOPLE that Alice will not return. He explained, “In a sense, Alice the organist will live forever, through the beautiful music she made. But in another, more important sense, yep she’s dead as a doornail.”

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