Natalie Sleeth

Natalie Allyn Wakeley Sleeth was born in Evanston, Illinois, on October 29, 1930. She began piano study at four, sang in choral ensembles, and graduated from Wellesley College in 1952 with a degree in music theory after studying theory, piano, and organ. That year she married Ronald E. Sleeth, a Methodist minister and professor of homiletics. His academic appointments took the family through several seminary communities, including Nashville, Dallas, Evanston, and Denver.

In Dallas, Sleeth served on the staff of Highland Park United Methodist Church and strengthened her craft through study with hymn writer Jane Marshall and choral conductor Lloyd Pfautsch. Her 1969 Canon of Praise became an important early success, and she went on to write more than two hundred published works, especially for church and school choirs. She usually created both words and music, favoring memorable melodies and singable texts that could be learned by choirs with limited resources.

Sleeth wrote both the text and tune of Go Now in Peace in 1975 and published them in Sunday Songbook in 1976. Her other recognized works include Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpet, Joy in the Morning, and Hymn of Promise. The last of these became a congregational hymn in The United Methodist Hymnal. She also described the spiritual and creative background of selected compositions in Adventures for the Soul. West Virginia Wesleyan College and Nebraska Wesleyan University awarded her honorary doctorates late in her career. She died of cancer in Denver on March 21, 1992.