Kathleen Armstrong Thomerson (born February 18, 1934) is an American organist and

hymnwriter A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

Biography

A native of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

,Kathleen A. Thomerson.
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 15 Nov. 2018. Thomerson spent portions of her childhood in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in music in 1956 and a master's degree in 1958; she also studied at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, with

Flor Peeters Franciscus Florentinus Peeters, Baron Peeters (4 July 1903 – 4 July 1986) was a Belgian composer, organist and academic teacher. He was director of the Conservatorium in Antwerp, Belgium, and organist at Mechelen Cathedral from 1923 to his deat ...

at the

Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp The Royal Conservatoire Antwerp ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen) is a Belgian conservatory of music, dance and drama in Antwerp, Belgium. It was founded in 1898 as the Royal Flemish Conservatoire by Peter Benoit. The legislation on u ...

, and with

Jean Langlais Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III (15 February 1907 – 8 May 1991) was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "" ("Breton, of Catholic faith"). Biography Langlais was born in L ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. She worked as the music director of University United Methodist Church in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, and taught organ at the Saint Louis Conservatory and at

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

; she has also worked as organist and music director at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. She is a Fellow of the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...

. As a writer of hymns, Thomerson is best known for the text "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light", written in the summer of 1966 after a visit to the Church of the Redeemer in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and set to her own tune, ''Houston''. She has composed other hymn tunes as well, including several for publication in the 2005 collection ''A Taste of Heaven's Joys: A Collection of Original Hymns'', written with Patricia B. Clark. She published a bio-bibliography of her teacher Langlais in 1989, and a biography of

Marie-Claire Alain Marie-Claire Geneviève Alain-Gommier (10 August 1926 – 26 February 2013) was a French organist, scholar and teacher best known for her prolific recording career, with 260 recordings, making her the most-recorded classical organist in the world ...

in 2002. While at the University of Texas, Kathleen Armstrong met Jamie Edward Thomerson, marrying him on June 1, 1957. He went on to a career as an ichthyologist and professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The couple had three children, two sons and a daughter, and remained together until his death from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

on January 4, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomerson, Kathleen 1934 births Living people American organists Women organists American Christian hymnwriters American women hymnwriters American writers about music Women writers about music American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American composers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers People from Jackson, Tennessee Musicians from Tennessee Writers from Tennessee University of Texas alumni Syracuse University alumni Southern Illinois University Edwardsville faculty 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American women musicians 20th-century organists 21st-century organists 21st-century American keyboardists 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers