Janie Thompson (August 20, 1921 – June 1, 2013) was a performer. She was a professor at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and the founding director of the

BYU Young Ambassadors __NOTOC__ The Young Ambassadors are a song and dance performing group from Brigham Young University (BYU). Consisting of 20 performers, 10 male and 10 female, they were founded by Janie Thompson in 1969. Since their first international performance ...

and the

Living Legends (BYU) Living Legends, originally the Lamanite Generation, is a song and dance performing group at Brigham Young University made up of performers of Native Americans in the United States, Native American, Polynesians, Polynesian and Hispanic and Latino Am ...

performance groups. She was an active member of

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) and served 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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Thompson was born August 20, 1921, to J. Henry Thompson and Lora Harmon. She grew up in

Malta, Idaho Malta is a village in Cassia County, Idaho, United States. The population was 193 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Burley, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area. History The settlers in the Malta area in the early 1880s had no central loca ...

. She was the oldest of seven children. Thompson's mother was a singer and dancer, until a train accident left her unable to continue dancing. She would think of choreography and have Thompson dance out the steps for her. Her father sang bass. There was one piano in her house growing up, but her family could not afford lessons, so Thompson taught herself to play. She first performed at age 14. She attended Raft River High School and graduated in 1939. Thompson was accepted to

(BYU) in 1939. She worked as a pianist, playing in dance classes, to put herself through college. and graduated in 1943 with a music degree. She associated with the Army Cadet Marching Band which helped launch her career when she was asked to be their lead female singer.

Career

After graduating, Thompson taught music for some time at Timpanogos Elementary School in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

. She quit her teaching job to go to California, where Thompson entered a singing competition in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. She became a Civilian Actress Technician, allowing her to perform for the Army of Occupation. She toured

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, performing for soldiers in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the 314th Army Special Service Band. She performed weekly at the Wiesbaden Opera House, and also performed with

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

. She returned to 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 ...

in 1947 and performed with Ike Carpenter. She was then called on a mission for the LDS Church to

in 1950. Thompson returned to the U.S. and she went to BYU to establish the Student Program Bureau in 1952 at the request of Ernest L. Wilkinson. She accepted the position although she also received a job offer to continue working with Ike Carpenter the same day. Although she did not want to accept the job with her own career beginning, she felt that she was supposed to take the job. During her first four years at BYU, Thompson put on over 2,000 shows. She traveled to all the high schools in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, while also helping with youth productions with the Young Women's organization in the church. She also served for a time as a member of the YWMIA General Board. She left BYU in 1956, when she went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to be a talent coach at a professional talent studio. In New York, Thompson taught music lessons on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and trained children to sing. She was offered jobs writing musical commercials, but she returned to the university in 1959. Throughout her time at BYU, Thompson helped direct performances and even organized performances for U.S. servicemen. She was the founder of several performing groups, including Young Ambassadors and Living Legends which tour internationally today. She not only helped produce shows, but she also wrote some shows as well, publishing over 100 musical works. She launched BYU's first international tour in 1960. She officially retired from BYU in 1984; however, she maintained a studio at BYU after retirement. She continued to help with musical productions until her death. Some of her students were Heather Young,

Sally Flynn Sally Flynn (born July 23, 1946 in Ontario, Oregon) is an American singer and musician (also known as Sally Hart) who was a featured performer on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' television program. A Alumnus, graduate of Brigham Young University (BYU ...

and Sandi Griffiths from ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...

,'' and

Joseph Runningfox Joseph Runningfox (born 1955 in Santa Fe, New Mexico) is a Pueblo actor. He was featured in '' Ravenous'' as George (credited as Joseph Running Fox) and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Runningfox played Geronimo in a 1993 television mov ...

Later life

She was involved with America's Freedom Festival in

, for several years. Although she never married and did not have children of her own, she strove to help each of her students reach their full potential. She continued composing music and helping with productions up until her death. Her students remembered her as a stern taskmaster that was filled with love. She died on June 1, 2013, in

Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

References

External links

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Janie Thompson Obituary in The Daily Herald

Graduation photo in 1943 Banyan at Brigham Young University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Janie 1922 births American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Female Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in the United Kingdom Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University staff Mormon missionaries in Wales 2013 deaths Young Women (organization) people 20th-century Mormon missionaries People from Cassia County, Idaho American women singers Latter Day Saints from Idaho Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Utah Harold B. Lee Library-related University Archives articles