Sisters In Song; Women Hymn Writers. Leslie Clay

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      Carrie’s family spent most of her early life in New Jersey. She married Frank Breck and they moved to Portland, Oregon in the 1910s. She was devoted to her husband and five daughters. By her own admission, she could not carry a tune. But she had a good sense of rhythm and she wrote more than 2000 poems. She was physically weak, and had to take frequent rests while doing her many chores. At those times, she would sit in her favorite rocking chair and write poetry. She said: “I penciled verses under all conditions: over a mending basket, with a baby on my arm, and sometimes even when sweeping or washing dishes, my mind moved in poetic meter.”

      She occasionally sent her poems to a composer of gospel hymns, Grant Colfax Tuller, with the hope he would set them to music. When the verses of “Face to Face” arrived in the mail one day, Tuller had just completed the music for a song with lyrics he didn’t fully like. Carrie Breck’s words were a perfect fit, and so the song was made complete.

      Blanche Kerr Brock

      1888-1958

      “Beyond the Sunset”

      Blanche was a talented singer and pianist who honed her skills at the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music and the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Blanche wrote music and her Quaker pastor husband, Virgil, wrote lyrics for about 500 gospel songs.

      Homer Rodenheaver had a school of music in Winona Lake, Indiana. During the summer of 1936, he invited all faculty members to his home for the evening. Among them were the Brocks. That night, they watched a very unusual sunset with Virgil’s cousin, Horace Burr. A large area of the lake appeared ablaze with the glory of God, yet there were storm clouds gathered overhead. Burr was blind. As they talked about the impressive beauty of that sunset, Burr remarked that he had never seen a more beautiful sunset. He told them, “I see through other people’s eyes, and I think I often see more; I see beyond the sunset.” Blanche later said, “The phrase ‘beyond the sunset’ and the striking inflection of his voice struck me so forcibly, I began singing the first few measures. We then went to the piano and completed the first verse.” Before dinner ended, all four stanzas were complete. The song was dedicated to Horace.

      Iola Whitlock Brubeck

      1923-

      “God’s Love Made Visible”

      Iola Whitlock of Redding California met her husband, Dave Brubeck, while they were students at the College of the Pacific, now named University of the Pacific. She co-directed a weekly campus radio program “The Friday Frolicks” where Dave and his small band occasionally played. After some time, they went on their first date and got engaged that night. They married in 1942 and celebrated their seventieth anniversary on September 20, 2012, shortly before Dave’ death. Iola contributed to Dave’s very successful career by urging him to take his music to colleges and later to any venue within driving distance. She often wrote lyrics for his music, many with religious themes. They gave back to their alma mater by founding the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific in 2000. The Institute’s mission is to build on Dave Brubeck’s artistic legacy and to advance important social issues such as civil rights, the environment, international relations, and justice.