Covenant News

Services Held for David L. Thorburn

PARK RIDGE, IL (April 11, 2002) - Funeral services were held Wednesday for Park Ridge resident David L. Thorburn, 65, who served as North Park College music professor and choir director from 1963 to 1987.

Born June 6, 1936, in Wabash, Indiana, Thorburn (affectionately known on campus as DT) was known for his passion for music and his ability to take complex music and make it simple for his students.

In a written tribute to Thorburn, Chicago Tribune Vice President for Development Owen Youngman wrote of his college choir director, saying, "Poulenc's Mass in G, the Brahms Neue Liebeslieder Walzer, Trois Chansons by Debussy . . . and of course Tryggare kan ingen vara . . . when I think of singing for DT, I think of how all the babel of all these languages was dispelled in a North Park College choir concert as we merged our voices in service of the universal language of music."

Said Douglas Johnson, pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Princeton, Illinois, "DT's particular way of bringing the best out of university student voices has kept me singing in ministry. I'll cherish the many moments of my exhilaration under his baton for the rest of my life." And another student of Thorburn's, Kevin Anderson, wrote, "Being a member of DT's choirs provided those of us who were not musically gifted at least a glimmer of what it is to be a musician. "To this day, I judge choral productions by how DT would've done it."

Thorburn is survived by two children, David of Schaumburg and Julie of Williams Bay, Wisconsin. He is also survived by brother Richard of Willowbrook and sister Sharon of Oak Park.

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