George Beverly Shea

Although Southern Gospel may be my favorite music- George Beverly Shea is one of my most respected writers/singers. I purchased one of his albums as a child and have heard him live at Billy Graham Crusades of coarse. He has written numerous songs including I'd Rather have Jesus. And rather than listen to me, let me post the words from a web site by Billy Graham Below. Thank you for your faithfulness and example Mr. George Beverly Shea.

George Beverly Shea, 104, of Montreat, often called "America's beloved Gospel singer," passed away Tuesday (April 16, 2013) after a brief illness. Best known as the soloist of Billy Graham Crusades, George Beverly Shea was born February 1, 1909, in Winchester, Ontario, Canada, and was a son of the late Rev. A.J. Shea and Maude Whitney Shea. Shea's first public singing was in the choir of his father's Wesleyan Methodist Church. George Beverly Shea married the late Erma Scarfe in 1934 at his father's former pastorate in Ottawa, Ontario. They had two children, Ron and Elaine. Erma passed away in 1976. In 1985, Shea was remarried to Karlene Aceto at a ceremony in Billy and Ruth Graham's home in Montreat, N.C. Mr. Shea attended Annesley College in Ottawa from 1926 to 1928, then Houghton (N.Y.) College from 1928 to 1929. From 1929 until 1938. Mr. Shea worked in radio broadcasting as an avocation while employed as a clerk in the headquarters of Mutual of New York insurance company. From 1938 to 1944, Mr. Shea was an announcer and staff soloist at WMBI radio in Chicago. While in this position, he met a young pastor named Billy Graham in 1943. Graham had taken over a radio program called "Songs in the Night" at Chicago's WCFL, and, having recalled hearing Mr. Shea's radio singing, enlisted him to help with the broadcast. That was the beginning of a long association between Graham and Mr. Shea. In 1947, Mr. Shea went to Graham's hometown, Charlotte, to sing in one of the first of Graham's citywide Crusades. Mr. Shea devotedly preceded the evangelist in song in Crusades over the span of nearly 60 years. In his autobiography, "Just As I Am," Graham writes, "I have sometimes said that I would feel lost getting up to preach if Bev were not there to prepare the way through an appropriate song." Also a prolific recording artist and composer, Mr. Shea recorded more than 70 albums of sacred music. At 23, he wrote the music to one of his best-known solos, "I'd Rather Have Jesus," to words by Mrs. Rhea H. Miller. The poem had been left on the family piano by Mr. Shea's mother, and after reading the words he sat at the piano and composed the tune. Mr. Shea was the recipient of 10 Grammy nominations, earned a Grammy Award in 1965 and was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Grammy organization in 2011. He was also a member of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, earning induction in 1978. For his significant contributions to Gospel music, he was inducted into the Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame in February 1996. Mr. Shea was also inducted into the inaugural class of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists' "Hall of Faith" in 2008.  Mr. Shea's public funeral service was held at 3 p.m. Sunday (April 21, 2013)