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Omer Westendorf

1916 - 1997 Person Name: Omar Westendorf Author of "Where Charity and Love Prevail" in Great Songs of the Church (Revised) Omer Westendorf, one of the earliest lyricists for Roman Catholic liturgical music in English, died on October 22, 1997, at the age of eighty-one. Born on February 24, 1916, Omer got his start in music publishing after World War II, when he brought home for his parish choir in Cincinnati some of the Mass settings he had discovered in Holland. Interest in the new music being published in Europe led to his creation of the World Library of Sacred Music, initially a music-importing firm that brought much of this new European repertoire to U.S. parishes. Operating out of a garage in those early years, Omer often joked about the surprised expressions of visitors who stopped by and found a wide range of sheet music in various states of “storage” (read disarray). Later, as World Library Publications, the company began publishing some of its own music, including new works with English texts by some of those same Dutch composers, for example, Jan Vermulst. In 1955 World Library published the first edition of The Peoples Hymnal, which would become the People's Mass Book in 1964, one of the first hymnals to reflect the liturgical reforms proposed by Vatican II. Omer also introduced the music of Lucien Deiss to Catholic parishes through the two volumes of Biblical Hymns and Psalms. Using his own name and several pen names, Omer composed numerous compositions for liturgical use, though his best-known works may be the texts for the hymns “Where Charity and Love Prevail,” “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing,” and especially “Gift of Finest Wheat.” As he lay dying, his family and friends gathered around his bed to sing his text “Shepherd of Souls, in Love, Come, Feed Us.” NPM honored Omer as its Pastoral Musician of the Year in 1985. --liturgicalleaders.blogspot.com/2008 =========================== Pseudonyms: Paul Francis Mark Evans J. Clifford Evers --Letter from Tom Smith, Executive Director of The Hymn Society, to Leonard Ellinwood, 6 February 1980. DNAH Archives.

Lucius Chapin

1760 - 1842 Composer of "TWENTY-FOURTH" in Christian Science Hymnal Lucius Chapin, 1760-1842 Born: April 25, 1760, Longmeadow (near Springfield), Massachusetts. Died: December 24, 1842, Hamilton County, Ohio. Buried: Originally at Walnut Hills Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1842. Reinterred at Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 26, 1858. Lucius’ brother was Amzi Chapin. In 1775, Lucius joined the Continental Army in Boston as a fifer; re-enlisting in 1776, he served at the Battles of Ticonderoga and Stillwater, and endured the infamous winter of 1777-8 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, with George Washington. After the war, he conducted singing schools in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and in 1787 moved to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, later teaching in Rocbridge, Augusta and Rockingham Counties. Around 1797, he moved to Vernon, Kentucky. He retired in 1835 and moved to Hamilton County, Ohio. --www.hymntime.com/tch/

Jack Boyd

b. 1932 Arranger of "TWENTY-FOURTH" in Great Songs of the Church (Revised) Jack Arthur Boyd (b. Indianapolis, Indiana, February 9, 1932) was the music editor of *Great Songs of the Church, Revised*, published by ACU Press in 1986. He earned a B.S. degree in music education from Abilene Christian University, a masters degree in music composition and theory from the University of North Texas, and a Ph.D. in choral literature from the University of Iowa. Boyd edited *Children, Rejoice!* (Sweet, 1979) and he authored *Rehearsal Guide for the Choral Director* (Parker, 1970) and *Leading the Lord's Singing* (Quality, 1981). He is a member of Churches of Christ and lives in Abilene, Texas. Monty Lynn