Here I am singing “Just A Closer Walk” with the alumni chorus at Western Christian College‘s 2006 Homecoming over the weekend. As I mentioned earlier, it was my 30th reunion; most of the people (though not all) you see behind me in this picture were my classmates. An alumni chorus, made up of any current and former students who want to sing a few old familiar songs (almost always including the “Hallelujah Chorus” and always ending with “The Lord Bless You And Keep You”) is an annual part of the Homecoming festivities at WCC.
My father, James Lee Willett, taught at WCC for more than 20 years, and conducted the chorus for all of that time. “Just A Closer Walk” (which he picked up from a recording by Dr. Kenneth Davis Jr., director of the Harding University A Cappella Chorus, with which I sang in in university) became my father’s signature song. This was the first time I’d been asked to sing it at Homecoming, although I sang it a couple of times last year, for the launch of an alumni association fundraising CD and for the school’s anniversary last fall.
My father died four years ago this month, just before he was due to attend Homecoming 2003 and conduct the alumni chorus that year–and sing “Just A Closer Walk”–as he had done pretty much every year since his retirement.
