George Beverly Shea (February 1, 1909 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea was often described as "America's beloved gospel singer"Michael Ireland, "America's 'Beloved Gospel Singer,' George Beverly Shea, to Celebrate 100th Birthday" ASSIST News Service (30 January 2009); . Retrieved 3 February 2009. and was considered "the first international singing 'star' of the gospel world," as a consequence of his solos at Billy Graham Crusades and his exposure on radio, records and television. Because of the large attendance at Graham's Crusades, it is estimated that Shea sang live before more people than anyone else in history.Melvin L. Butler, "Globalization of Gospel," in Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, ed. W. K. McNeil (Routledge, 2005):139.Don Cusic, The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel Music (Popular, 1990):182.
Personal life Early life and family George Beverly Shea was born in Winchester, Ontario, Canada, on February 1, 1909, the fourth of eight children of the Rev. Adam Joseph Shea (1872–1946), a Wesleyan Methodist Church—now Wesleyan Church—minister, and his wife, Maude Mary Theodora (Whitney) SheaShea, George Beverly, "How Sweet the Sound", Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, p. 161 () (1881–1971). His uncle, Isaac Shea (1865–1946) of Winchester had fought in the Second Boer War with the Royal Canadian Dragoons.
Religious background The Shea family served at the Wesleyan Methodist church in Winchester, Ontario, Canada; Houghton, New York (1917–1921); the Sunnyside Wesleyan Methodist church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1921;"A Brief History of Our Church"; at the Willett Memorial Wesleyan Methodist Church at Midler Avenue, Syracuse, New York; and the Jersey City, New Jersey Wesleyan Methodist church during his youth.
Shea himself said that he became a Christian at the age of five or six, but made a rededication to Christ when he was 18, at the Sunnyside Wesleyan Methodist Church in Ottawa:
Musical background Shea was taught to play the violin by his father, and the piano and organ by his mother. Shea's bass-baritone voice brought early recognition and provided many opportunities for him to sing in his father's church. He began singing at religious meetings in the Ottawa Valley.
Education Shea attended Annesley College in Ottawa, before transferring in 1928 to Houghton College (Houghton, New York), where he studied singing with Herman Baker. While studying at Houghton College, Shea sang with the Houghton College Glee Club. Financial difficulties made it necessary for him to terminate his studies in 1929.
Life insurance company employment After leaving college, Shea became a clerk in the medical department in the New York City offices of the Mutual of New York life insurance company, where he worked for the next nine years.
Marriages and children Shea married his childhood sweetheart, Erma L. Scharfe (1908–1976) on 16 June 1934."Shea, George Beverly." Century of Country; . Retrieved 3 February 2009. Shea and Erma had two children: Ronnie and Elaine.
Shea's children became Christians at an early age. Shea's daughter Elaine became a Christian at the age of 8 during a Billy Graham Crusade at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California, in 1958.Sherwood Eliot Wirt, Billy: A Personal Look at Billy Graham, the World's Best-loved Evangelist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1997):52-55; Retrieved 10 February 2009.S.E. Wirt, Crusade at the Golden Gate (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959). In 1959, Ron responded to an invitation by Billy Graham during one of the Crusade meetings in Sydney, Australia and was counseled by Grady Wilson.Stuart Barton Babbage and Ian Siggins, Light Beneath the Cross (Melbourne: World's Work, 1960).Sherwood Eliot Wirt, Billy: A Personal Look at Billy Graham, the World's Best-loved Evangelist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1997):65; Erma Shea died in September 1976, and memorial services were held at Western Springs, Illinois, on 8 September 1976."Select Chronology Listing of Events in the History of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association"; (updated 10 December 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2009).
On 19 December 1985, Shea married Karlene Aceto (1942–), a 1972 graduate of Montreat College,Reflection: A Magazine for the Alumni and Friends of Montreat College 6 (Winter 2001):3; . Retrieved 4 February 2009.Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton College, in Montreat, North Carolina. In a September 2007 interview, Shea recalled how he met and married his second wife, Karlene:
Shea, who became a naturalized American citizen in 1941, and his wife, Karlene, who was 33 years his junior, lived in Montreat, North Carolina,"'Joy of Music' Filmed at Montreat College," Reflection: A Magazine for the Alumni and Friends of Montreat College 6 (Winter 2001):3; . Retrieved 4 February 2009. on the same road as Billy Graham's home.Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley, The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham (Zondervan, 2005):244.
Death Shea died on April 16, 2013, at the age of 104 from complications following a stroke. He was buried on the grounds of the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A reed organ owned by Shea now belongs to Art Robinson."The Grandfather Of Alt-Science: Art Robinson has seeded scientific skepticism within the GOP for decades. Now he wants to use urine to save lives" by Daniel Engber on FiveThirtyEight. Oct. 12, 2017 Accessed Oct. 15, 2017.
Ministry
New York (1929–1939) As a result of the recommendation of American opera baritone John Charles Thomas (born 6 September 1891 – died 13 December 1960), Shea studied singing under Gino Monaco, Thomas's own vocal coach.
While working for Mutual Life in New York City Shea appeared on an amateur hour program hosted by Fred Allen on NBC radio. Despite losing to a yodeler, Shea earned second place, and a spot singing popular music on Allen's program, probably a precursor to Allen's Town Hall Tonight. Although Shea "impressed the critics and scores of fans", he still didn't feel he had discovered a direction for his life.Ace Collins, Turn Your Radio on: The Stories Behind Gospel Music's All-Time Greatest Songs (Zondervan, 1999):104.
In 1933, a network radio director heard Shea sing and arranged an audition to sing popular secular songs for Your Hit Parade, a national program with the Lyn Murray Singers broadcast on the NBC network. Shea passed the audition and was offered a job, but reluctantly turned the position down because he didn't feel right about performing secular music.
Shea sang regularly on radio station WHN, and on Erling C. Olsen's Meditations in the Psalms broadcast on radio station WMCA, as well as doing 30-minute programs from 7-7:30 am on WKBO in Jersey City, New Jersey. Shea also appeared on WKBO's "the Old Fashioned Gospel Hour."
Shea sang on the Young Person's Church of the Air radio program, which had been started by Percy Crawford (1902–1960)"Papers of Percy Bartimus Crawford and Ruth Crawford Porter, Collection 357" at Archives, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois in Philadelphia in 1931 on Radio station WIP.Joel A. Carpenter, Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism (Oxford University Press, 1997):164."Papers of Percy Bartimus Crawford and Ruth Crawford Porter - Collection 357" at Archives, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois
Shea began his recording career at the U.S. branch of Decca Records after being signed by A & R representative Jack Kapp, who told Shea: "If you do better than the singer we have in mind, we will give you a contract. If not, you'll have to take the records on yourself. Shea recorded "Jesus Whispers Peace," "Lead Me Gently Home, Father," "I'd Rather Have Jesus," and "God Understands," accompanied by Ruth Crawford (wife of Percy Crawford) on the organ. About 7,000 copies were sold, and they are prized by music lovers today, the majority being Protestant Christians like Shea.
Chicago (1939–1952) In 1939, Shea auditioned unsuccessfully for a spot on a CBS radio program that originated in Chicago, Illinois.
WMBI (1939–1944)
Soon after Dr. Will Houghton, president of the Moody Bible Institute (MBI) offered Shea a staff position with "duties that included emceeing, interviewing, news-casting, continuity writing, programming, administration, auditioning, and singing"Cusic, 182-183. on radio station WMBI, "the powerhouse of evangelical radio",Joel A. Carpenter, Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism (Oxford University Press, 1997):135. the first non-commercial Christian radio station in America, which was owned and operated by the Moody Bible Institute originally on its campus in Chicago. Initially Shea sang on Houghton's Let's Go Back to the Bible, from 1939.Cusic, 183. Later he was also involved in Miracles and Melodies, which started on 67 radio stations across the US in 1940, and was broadcast on 187 different stations in 45 US states, Canada, Latin America and China; and in Hymns From the Chapel each morning at 8:15.
Songs in the Night (1944–1952)
On 2 January 1944, Shea began his ministry as a featured soloist on Billy Graham's Songs in the Night weekly radio program,Jacob Climo and Maria G. Cattell, Social Memory and History: Anthropological Perspectives, 2nd ed. (Rowman Altamira, 2002):23. which was broadcast live on Sunday evenings for 45 minutes from 10:15pmLewis Drummond and Betty Drummond, Women of Awakenings: The Historic Contribution of Women to Revival Movements (Kregel Publications, 1996):337. from the basement of the Village (Baptist) Church at 4475 Wolf Road, Western Springs, Illinois,Betsy J. Green, Western Springs, Illinois (Arcadia Publishing, 2002):98-99. pastored by Graham,Sandra Donovan, Billy Graham (Twenty-First Century Books, 2006):39. and transmitted on radio station WCFL originating from Chicago, Illinois. The popularity of Shea helped make the previously financially struggling program self-sustaining within weeks.Deborah Hart Strober and Gerald S. Strober, A Day in the Life of Billy Graham: Living the Message (Square One Publishers, 2003):27. The Drummonds indicate that Shea "skyrocketed the broadcast into a great success," so that soon Songs in the Night was broadcast twice on Sundays.
After eight years Shea turned over his duties on this program to Glenn Jorian so that he could devote his energies full-time to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).Cusic, 166.
Club Time (1944–1952)
In June 1944, Shea resigned from WMBI to sing gospel on a 15-minute weekday radio program, Club Time, the second oldest hymn program on commercial radio. Club Time, initially broadcast on Radio station WCFL, was sponsored by Herbert J. Taylor (18 April 1893 – 1 May 1978), a Christian businessman who headed Club Aluminum of Chicago. According to Cusic:
Club Time was broadcast nationally from September 1945 for the next seven years over the ABC Radio and Armed Forces Networks and many independent stations. This show brought Shea national recognition, and by 1951 Shea was the most prominent male soloist in gospel music.Don Cusic, The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel Music (Popular Press of the University of Wisconsin, 1990):135.
Singspiration (1947)
By the summer of 1947, Shea was signed to the Singspiration Sacred Recordings label,James E. Ruark, The House of Zondervan: Celebrating 75 Years, rev. ed. (Zondervan, 2006):100-101. which had been founded by Dr. Alfred B. Smith (8 November 1916 – 9 August 2001) in 1941, where he sang on a number of 78 rpm albums, including Bass Baritone (Singspiration "Treasure Chest Series" LP S-100) and Lead Me Gently Home, Father (Singspiration LP 156).
Evangelistic meetings (1942–1947) Summer of 1942