Crawford Marion Gates (1921)

Biography
Crawford Marion Gates is a composer, conductor, and musician. He composed or arranged almost 900 pieces, including the musical score for the Hill Cumorah Pageant, the musical score for "Promised Valley", two hymns in the LDS hymnbook (“Our Savior’s Love” and “Ring Out, Wild Bells”), and two hymns for the LDS Children’s Songbook (“Baptism” and “On a Golden Springtime”).

He was born on December 29, 1921, in San Francisco, California, and spent most of his childhood in Palo Alto. He was the only child of Gilbert and Leila Adair Crawford. He showed an interest in music, and after playing “My Country ’Tis of Thee” by ear—picking out the melody and a harmony—his mother thought he ought to have lessons. Despite the financial restrictions of the Great Depression, Gates studied piano, violin, and viola. Later he learned to play the clarinet, trumpet, and harp as well. He learned to play classical pieces, but also became a proficient dance band pianist.

Eastern States Mission
While serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ to the Eastern States Mission, he was appointed mission music director and led the eight-voice Mormon Male Chorus of Philadelphia. The group auditioned for NBC and was invited to perform on the weekly radio broadcast.

WWII Military Service
After completing his mission in 1942, he entered a Navy officer candidate program and finished his third year of college. He was stationed in North Dakota for training, and while there, he conducted a male chorus and a large dance band. He finished training at Columbia University

Gates was elected by his classmates to be the student conductor of the midshipman choir that was connected to the Protestant services held each Sunday evening in Manhattan. From September of 1944 to the end of the war in August 1945 he was stationed in Pearl Harbor.

Marriage & Family
He married Georgia Lauper in 1952. They had four children.