The
Veasey family has been involved with the choir
program at the Cathedral Church of Saint John
for multiple generations.
The Honorable E. Norman Veasey sang in the Men and Boys Choir of the Cathedral Church of Saint John in the 1940s for five years. He was introduced to the Choir by his mother who loved music and sang as a soloist at First & Central Presbyterian Church. Singing in the Choir helped to familiarize Norm with the Episcopal liturgy and in the early 1950s he and members of his family joined the church and were confirmed by Bishop John Brooke Mosley, then Dean of the Cathedral.
Norm's Choir mentors included Donald Taylor (who was a senior chorister) and Dr. C. Webster Johnson (who would become his father-in-law upon his marriage to daughter, Suzanne Johnson). Norm describes Dr. Johnson as a "giant" who sang with the Choir for 55 years, from 1912 to 1967. Choirmaster Paul Terry was also a mentor to Norm and "a wonderful musician and liturgist, and a stern disciplinarian, who could also be warm." Outside of choir rehearsals, Norm spent time playing at the Bishop's house on 14th Street with Jim and Art McKinstry, sons of Bishop Arthur Raymond McKinstry. Jim McKinstry would later become a colleague at the law firm of Richards, Layton & Finger where Norm practiced corporate law before becoming Chief Justice of the State of Delaware in 1992.
According to Norm's wife Suzy, "being a part of the Choir was not a special event but a constant in our lives." It also provided a special bonding experience for her father, Dr. Johnson, and her son Doug. On Thursday afternoons Doug would go to his grandparent's house for dinner and then go to Choir rehearsal with his grandfather. Doug, who sang in the Choir from 1969 to 1973 under the direction of Choirmasters Stoddart Smith and Herbert Tinney, believes being in the Choir taught him teamwork and introduced him to a new kind of educational regimen.
Doug went on to sing in Washington and Lee University's elite "Southern Comfort" male a cappella group. He is now on the vestry of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in downtown Philadelphia and is involved in raising support for the choir program at the school located next door. Younger brother Kip also sang in the Choir during the 1970s under the direction of Herb Tinney. According to Suzy, Kip has used his singing in his career as an actor based in New York City.
Both Suzy and Norm are proud that the legacy of singing started by Dr. Johnson is now continuing into the next generation, as their grandchildren discover their own love of music..