An Informal, Anecdotal History of Saint Francis' Parish
as Told by Past and Present Members
The history of St. Francis's Choir is, as with any historical account, inextricably connected to the many people who, over the years, offered their musical talents and joyful intentions to God and to His congregation of "St. Francisfolk." In keeping, however, with the long-standing tradition of loosely-constituted parish structures, the names of the Choir singers, over the years, have not been maintained in the Parish Register, so the identities of the choristers must necessarily be limited to the recollections of parishioners. Inquiry does reveal, however, that the numbers ranged from four to twenty-eight and, so far as can be known, there has always been at least a few singers who did their best to provide musical assistance to the congregation.
Without diminishing the doubtless influence of the Rector on the parish's musical orientation, few parishioners who have sung in the choir would question that no matter how well-intentioned, talented, and dedicated they may have been, any success they may have enjoyed really resulted from the supernatural efforts and dedication of the organist/choirmasters as they were the ones who, amazingly in many cases, were able to bring forth harmony from a motley group of volunteers (and an occasional "ringer" or two at Christmas). This being so, most of our Choir's history centers around these few, six or seven, very special people.
Our congregation's first Vicar, Fr. Harry Secker, brought his own organist/choirmaster, his wife, Evelyn, and uniquely, his own musical instrument - an S.D. electric organ which was given to him by his father. We don't have particulars about the choir in those first days, but since they were building from ground zero, it's probably safe to assume that they did not sing Handel's Messiah in its entirety. When, in 1952, Fr. Secker accepted the call to another congregation, his organ went with him.
In the period from 1952-1956, when Fr. Willis Doyle was the Vicar (then he became Rector when the Mission became a Parish), we know that there were at least two organist/choirmasters, but the identity of one (a lady) has been lost. We do know, however, that John J. Hill succeeded the mystery lady in somewhat of a providential way. It seems that John was "caught" by Fr. Doyle playing pop tunes on the church organ one evening (John explains that the only organ that he had ever heard was the one at the Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas, so he was quite curious about playing one). Fr. Doyle, thereupon, asked him to fill in as a substitute organist and, sometime later, John became the "main man", so to speak. (It was during this period of time, we think, that the parish obtained the "infamous" Consonata Electric Organ, about which more will be said later.)
John Hill was the organist/choirmaster at St. Francis when Padre, Fr. Homer Rogers, came to the parish and when its location changed from Community Drive to Walnut Hill Lane. He reports that Padre didn't much like "bouncy" hymns, rather, the slower and more "churchy" tunes were more to his liking. Being, apparently, in the days before the Choirmaster's Guide, Padre left the picking out of hymns to John and simply told him to "look in the Prayer Book and pick hymns meant for each Sunday."
John tells us that the conditions were pretty challenging for choir members in the early days following the move to Walnut Hill Lane. In fact, to reach the choir loft, they had to climb up and down a ladder. Politely, the men went up first and came down last! Fortunately, the situation only lasted about three months.
At some point, John asked Padre if he would let him retire. He did and probably in large part he did so because he, Padre, had a talented daughter, Kathy Rogers (now Dennis), who could fill in. How long Kathy played isn't exactly known, but we do know that some, maybe all, of her siblings were in the choir loft winging along with her. Kathy opines that labeling her as the parish organist is either an act of kindness or misinformation. Nevertheless, she did fill an important gap. (And, by the way, few people know how scary it is to step in as substitute organist! Thanks be to God for all of them over the years.) When Kathy left for college, she was succeeded by Edith Butell.
Edith, a non-paid volunteer, filled the organist/choirmaster's job for about four years, until the fall of 1969. Remember the Consonata Electric Organ mentioned earlier? Well, they occasionally received police and taxi calls through it! That should be a challenge for even the best of organists. The hymns were selected from a master list prepared by Padre and a prominent parishioner/choirmaster who insisted that they sing at least one "barn-burner" every Sunday. Edith remembers that Padre and the congregation liked the hymns played fast. The Choir, then as today, sang the Propers and the Missa Marialis setting of the Mass, though occasionally, a folk Mass, with guitars was thrown in. Edith well recalls the time when a young, non-choir member mother came and sat in the back row of the Choir. She, thereupon, commenced nursing her baby, much to the distraction of the tenors. The anthem didn't go well.
Susan Gardner, having seen Padre's advertisement on the bulletin board at North Texas State University, became St. Francis's next organist/choirmaster. Her tenure, however, was not too long as she soon decided to take a similar job in Denton, where whe presumably lived. She did, however, do the parish a great favor before departing, in that she recommended to her then teacher and former choir-director in Amarillo that she apply for the job, citing the joy of the "wonderfully singing congregation." Doneta Weatherly did as she was bidden and was "impressed" on her first visit to St. Francis by Padre's teaching and preaching, by the music, and by finding her old friend from Amarillo, Joe Jones, in the congregation.
Doneta signed on in the fall of 1969, and thankfully, continues to this day. During her almost 30 years, she has served under three Rectors: Padre, Fr. James McGhee, and now, Fr. David Allen. Each of them relied heavily, if not completely, on her for the musical offerings of the parish. The traditional musical tastes of the parish and Rectors for Plain Chant has, of course, been continued; though, interestingly, the last Mass celebrated and sung by Padre was the Mitchell Folk Mass. While Doneta has always enjoyed a rather free hand in selecting the hymns and Choir anthems, she does recall that it took a little perseverance on her part to overcome Padre's thought that the congregation would sing better if the hymns were played fast.
Anyone who knew anything about organs could not but be amazed at the sound that Doneta got from that little Consonata Electric Organ, which had no pedal board and sounded somewhat like a calliope. Notwithstanding its limitations (the back of the instrument was permanently left off so that key Choir people could replace - and they did, a lot - burned out tubes at the most inconvenient times), the musical offerings were first rate and are, as Fr. Allen kindly says, "beyond the excellence which should be enjoyed by a parish the size of St. Francis." Of course, the good news is that the parish enlarged the Choir Loft in early 1991 in order to accomodate a pipe organ that was purchased from a Lutheran Church in Illinois. No one knows exactly what finally happened to the Consonata - may it rest in peace - as the disassembled parts disappeared when placed outside, pending location of a final resting place. It took quite a lot of doing to get the new organ to St. Francis but, due to prudent foresight, a professional organ builder was employed. After a block and tackle was hung from the Nave's A-frame cross-member closest to the Choir Loft, the organ's console and pipes were passed into the Choir Loft by a bunch of St. Francisfolk. The new organ made its debut in June of 1991. From then on, the musical offerings have just gotten better and better, even though a pipe occasionally goes askew and mightily gains everyone's attention. Sometimes a towel must be stuffed into one of the big pipes to muffle a roar!
Perhaps some things in the Parish Choir's history are best left unsaid. But, on the other hand, a revelation of some of its "secrets" might entice new singers to join; just to find out what really goes on behind all those Propers, anthems, and hymns. Who would guess, for example, that a particular Choir member would think to bring brandy to loosen up the voices before the Christmas Eve Carol Service? Rumor has it that the strategy worked, except that it carried over into the challenging Vivaldi Gloria, which was a bit sluggish. Or could one have imagined that green beer would show up at the Wednesday-night Choir practice, which also happened to be St. Patrick's Day? And the story is told of a Choir member who had such a big voice that she stood in a Choir Loft closet so as not to overpower the rest of the Choir! One of the unknown benefits of being a chorister is that they are "permitted" to suck on cough drops during the service. Fortunately, it didn't get around the parish that Fr. McGhee cautioned the Choir against tossing the drops across the loft! And just so that St. Francisfolks don't worry about what the Choir would do in case of fire, be comforted that there is a plan: a chain ladder may be unfurled from the Choir Loft.
Doubtless, every St. Francis Choir member in times past and present has wanted, from time to time, to skip the Wednesday-night Choir practice. But once the repetitious drills, the striving to stay on pitch, and the working together with friends toward a common good were accomplished, what could be more gratifying to a wannabe singer than participating in singing a Bach motet or a Mozart Mass to the Glory of God and to the edification of His flock gathered together in worship in St. Francis parish? -- Dick Phillips