D. Sterling Wheelwright (June 27, 1906 – May 1965) was an assistant conductor of the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for ov ...

under J. Spencer Cornwall. He was the older brother of

Lorin F. Wheelwright Lorin Farrar Wheelwright (December 20, 1909 – November 4, 1987) was an American Latter-day Saint hymnwriter, composer, musical instructor and educator. Early life and education Wheelwright was the son of David S. Wheelwright and Valborg Rasmu ...

. In 1925, Wheelwright traveled from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). His destination was

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but he became ill, was delayed in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and never made it to Germany. He returned home and began to study music at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. He assisted the missionary efforts in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as much as he could. Jenson, Andrew. ''

Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia ''Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' (abbreviated ''LDS Biographical Encyclopedia'') is a four-volume biographical dic ...

'', vol. 4, p. 250 Wheelwright was assistant conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1926 to 1938.''Conference Report'', April 1938, p. 81 He also served as a member of the Deseret Sunday School Union General Board and as the secretary to the LDS Church's Music Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheelwright, D. Sterling 1906 births American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints American Mormon missionaries in Denmark Tabernacle Choir music directors Northwestern University alumni 1965 deaths Sunday School (LDS Church) people 20th-century Mormon missionaries 20th-century American musicians Latter Day Saints from Illinois