Lee Roy Till's Obituary
Lee Roy Till: His Music and Ministry
Lee Roy Till entered Heaven’s gates on December 18, 2022. He was born in Arcadia, Louisiana, on August 8, 1928, and lived most of his early life in Pineville, Louisiana. He was an Eagle Scout and was very involved in his church’s music program as a teenager. He attended Louisiana Baptist College for two years and then graduated from Louisiana State University in 1949 with a degree in Civil Engineering. While attending LBC, he met the love of his life, Hannah Joy Curtis. They married on January 29, 1949, and moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he accepted a wonderful position with an architectural firm. Lee Roy and Hannah were devoted Christians, and he served as interim music director for Queensborough Baptist Church in Shreveport. In 1951, Billy Graham was planning a crusade in Shreveport and Lee Roy was asked to help Cliff Barrows, Billy Graham’s choir director, organize the choir for the crusade.
As Lee Roy gathered and organized choirs from various churches, the Lord was working on his heart. His boss asked him one day, “Lee Roy, are you working for Billy Graham or for me?” Lee Roy replied, “I wish I could do both!” Within three months after the crusade, Lee Roy surrendered his life to full-time Christian service, moved to Fort Worth, attended Southwestern Theological Seminary and began his training in Sacred Music and Education Ministry. Upon his graduation from the seminary, God opened the door for him to serve as Minister of Music at First Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, where he served for five glorious years.
Lee Roy received a call from Dr. W. A. Criswell asking him to come to First Baptist Church, Dallas, as Minister of Music and to help form a graded choir program for children and youth. Lee Roy and Hannah were so blessed in their ministry in Houston, and spent several weeks in prayer concerning this new opportunity. In August of 1959, they accepted the call and the family moved to Dallas.
Working tirelessly by his side, Hannah became the Children’s Choir Director and together they built, with God’s powerful strength, a music ministry that is still intact today at First Baptist Church, Dallas. In 1961, he formed the church’s orchestra and hired Carl Bolin to be its director and to form a handbell choir. There were 20 children’s choirs, Clarion Choir for junior high, Chapel Choir for high school, and Sanctuary Choir for adults.
His deep desire for the youth to share their faith was the motive behind the choir tours he planned. He wanted the young people to travel, see the work of Southern Baptist missionaries around the world, and help them spread the gospel through music and personal one-on-one witnessing. The Clarion Choir tours ministered throughout the United States and Mexico. The Chapel Choir, sent as “Good Will Ambassadors” from the United States, the State of Texas and the City of Dallas, toured nationally and internationally – to Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Orient. Judy Jordan, news reporter for KDFW television, traveled with the Chapel Choir’s Orient Tour in 1970 and produced a meaningful documentary of that three-week tour. The immeasurable impact of these tours is still affecting lives today of the choir members, dedicated sponsors, and those who heard the Gospel proclaimed around the world. The Sanctuary Choir not only sang for Sunday morning and Sunday evening services, but also dramatized great choral works: Handel’s Messiah which was televised on ABC nationally on December 24, 1965; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ; and Randall Thompson’s The Nativity According to St. Luke. They were also the featured chorus for Handel’s Messiah with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1970; Jerome Hines’s opera, I Am the Way; and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov featuring Jerome Hines.
The Southern Baptist Convention appointed him music director for their annual convention on three different occasions, including the Sesquicentennial in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He also directed music at other conventions, convocations, and crusades. Lee Roy served as Vice President of Crescendo Music Company and Dean of the Conservatory of Music in the Criswell Bible Institute.
On February 23, 1972, at the age of 44, Lee Roy suffered a severe illness similar to a stroke, and the course of their lives changed forever. Hannah lovingly cared for him, and in October of 1972 he took early medical retirement.
God was not finished with this couple! Although life drastically changed, the Lord still shone through them and gave them a new ministry of encouragement by the very lives they were living. First Baptist Church honored him in 1977 with the Lee Roy Till Music Center in the new Mary Crowley Building, and in 1987, The Lee Roy Till Student Center in the Ruth Ray Hunt Building. Dallas Mayor Wes Wise declared December 22, 1973, Lee Roy Till Day. He is also a Distinguished Alumnus of the School of Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
The greatest legacy Lee Roy Till left was the unswerving acceptance of God’s will for his life. He served Christ with all his heart in the days of strength and the days of illness. For his sweet melody, his many songs, his praise to God forever, we shall remember Lee Roy Till.
Lee Roy is preceded in death by his wife Hannah Joy Till, his father Robert Lee Till, his mother Frankie Till Bailey, and his sister Emma Loyce Smelley.
He is survived by his sister, Jackie Till Bailey; his children, Hannah Till Jones; Jenni Till Rasberry and husband Dr. Robert Rasberry; and Robert Lee Till, ll and wife Paula Till; his grandchildren, Dr. Paul Michael Vacca and wife Katie; Brandon Jones and wife Lisa; Dr. Sarah Beth Morris and husband Matt; Christin Joy Lander and husband Clint; John Robert Rasberry and wife Celena; and Justin Robert Till and wife Lexi; his great-grandchildren, Bailey Morgan Vacca, Nathan Anthony Vacca, William Wesley Vacca, Katelyn Leigh Vacca, Blakely Ann Jones, Emry Grace Jones, Lillian Grace Morris, Hannah Joy Morris, Harvey Grant Lander, Myles Harrison Lander, Ella Renée Rasberry, Aria Jules Rasberry, Lizzie Lee Till, and Millie Mae Till; his nieces, June Jones, Jan Hermes, Diann Charrier, Donna Crane, and Karen Dinkins; and his nephews, Kendall Bailey and Mike Smelley.
The Till family offers our deepest gratitude to those who have faithfully prayed and lovingly supported our parents as they continued to honor Christ.
The Till family has been blessed greatly by Lee Roy’s marvelous caregivers: Trevor Ngosi, Kimi McCorvey, and Vida Gyan.
In lieu of flowers, you may honor Lee Roy Till by donating to the church he loved and served, First Baptist Church, Dallas, 1707 San Jacinto, Dallas, Texas 75201.
Please join the Till family to celebrate the Life and Ministry of Lee Roy Till, January 23, 2023, 2:00 pm in the historic Sanctuary of First Baptist Church, 1707 San Jacinto, Dallas, Texas 75201.
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