Organist / Choir Accompanist

When I was 7 years old in Hot Springs, Arkansas, my grandmother Mimi moved her old upright piano to our house; hired Ms. Todd , a Presbyterian choir director, to teach me piano; and told me that I would begin taking piano lessons. I loved it.

Ms. Grim took over as my teacher when I was in fourth grade. She insisted that I learn to play hymns, making that a part of each lesson. At age 10, I started playing hymns for Sunday School. After a while Ms. Grim told Mimi that I needed a more advanced teacher.

Mimi found Ms. Futcher, a former concert pianist, who required me to audition before she agreed to accept me as a student. She used classical music literature as the basis for her instruction. During those 7 years of her masterful instruction, she became a family friend; we remained in touch until her death.

When I became a member of the school choir in seventh grade, the director Ms. Lowrey chose 4 of us pianists to share the accompaniment of the choir. What a great opportunity and valuable experience this was to be able to learn how to accompany choirs for those six years at the Hot Springs junior and senior high schools! Ms. Futcher blended in the accompaniment pieces into my instruction.

My parents were among the charter members of a small Presbyterian church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The congregation nurtured their youth and encouraged them. When I was 15, they hired our organist Ms. Sherman to give me ten organ lessons so that I could substitute for her when necessary. This first exposure to the organ, when the church was so patient with a beginner, convinced me to continue learning the organ.

When I went to Southern State College (now Southern Arkansas University) in Magnolia, Arkansas, one of the music professors Ms. Farris gave me private lessons on the school’s pipe organ for two years. She was also a wonderful teacher. I was the organist for a big Baptist church for one full year during that time.

When my husband Don and I married and began our teaching careers in Goliad; Crossett, Arkansas; and Rockport, I was an occasional substitute for three different Presbyterian churches. When we settled in the Brazosport area in 1971, where Don taught at Brazosport College, our first son was an infant. We attended Covenant EPC, which was then First Presbyterian.

Some time later Alison Hill came to visit me and mentioned that the church needed a substitute organist. When I told her that I played, she called the choir director and the rest is history. I began playing and they never asked me to leave, so I am still here after 48 years.

While our two sons Mark and John were in school, I taught private piano students in our home for 20 years. When John left for college in 1992, I resumed teaching at Northside Elementary in Angleton (4 years) and then at Bess Brannen Elementary in Lake Jackson (18 years).

Christian music remains a huge part of my life. Playing for choirs and services is an honor and a calling. Wednesday night choir rehearsal, when we have so much fun, and Sunday services are the highlights of my every week. I hope that you will join us and experience the great music at Covenant Evengelical Presbyterian Church of Lake Jackson for yourself.

My worship service philosophy: “Listen, blend, follow, but lead when necessary.”