Photo courtesy of Suess-Gahman Funeral Home, Inc. - Perkasie
Jamison, Pennsylvania
1918 - 2015
MESSAGE FROM THE KEMP FAMILY REGARDING SERVICES AND LIVESTREAMING:
"The Kemp Family thanks you all for your thoughts and prayers over the last weeks - we have felt them all. Helen Kemp?s Celebration of Life will be this Saturday, September 19, 2015 at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, at 1:00 pm. The service will be held in Bristol Chapel, per Mom?s wishes. She has had a rich history in this beautiful place. The prelude music will begin at 12:15.
Because there may be more people sharing in this celebration than the Chapel will hold, Westminster has kindly offered to have Hillman Hall in the new Cullen Center available for more seating, where the service will be live-streamed on 2 large screens. This room is also handicap accessible.
The doors to both rooms will be open at 12:00 pm. There will be students and friends (and bells) to direct you if you are not familiar with the campus.
At the end of the service, all of us from both rooms will come together outside the Cullen Center to bless Mamma Helen on her way by singing the Lutkin Benediction together. The weather looks like it will be beautiful!
For those of you who cannot attend but would like to be with us, Westminster has made the live-stream available to the public. Go to www.rider.edu/kempmemorial, where you will see a video window from about 12:15pm on Saturday. Just click on the play button, and you should be able to see and hear everything. (The singing of the Lutkin Benediction will be video taped and posted as soon as possible.)
We look forward to celebrating the life of this remarkable person, and are grateful for the love that continues to surround her, and all of us. Thank you."
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Our beloved Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Mother-in-law, and Aunt, Helen Hubbert Kemp, passed peacefully in her home on Sunday morning, August 23, 2015, in Jamison, PA, at the age of 97. She lived a remarkable life, and set an example for us to follow: to live with purpose, to love with no bounds, and to sing with joy.
Helen Kemp was born in Perkasie, PA on March 31, 1918, Easter Sunday, to Frieda and Edward Hubbert. Her father and brother established E. Hubbert & Son, a baseball stitching company in Perkasie. Music was a part of daily life in the Hubbert house, and it was this love of music and singing that led Helen to discover her own lyric soprano voice. She attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where she sang under Toscanini, Barbirolli, Rachmaninoff, and with Leopold Stokowski on the sound track of Walt Disney?s "Fantasia." At Westminster she met and fell in love with her life partner, John S.C. Kemp. They married in the Westminster Chapel in 1942, and over the next 13 years, had five children. Helen and John each served two tenures on the faculty at Westminster Choir College in the Church Music and Voice departments. In 1949, Helen moved with her husband and children to Oklahoma City, OK, where they spent 20 years establishing an acclaimed ?graded choir program? at First Presbyterian Church, involving over 700 choristers of all ages.
Well-known in her early career as a soprano soloist in major oratorios, it was her love for the art of singing that Helen brought into her work with children's choirs, which she regarded as the seed-bed for musical, artistic, and personal growth of young choristers. She trained children and their teachers in the art of choral singing for more than seven decades. The Kemps served as founding members and leaders of Choristers Guild, the international organization for children's choirs that provides materials, music, and support to directors/teachers.
Known internationally as a specialist in the area of training young voices, Helen Kemp served as guest conductor and clinician at universities and churches in all 50 states as well as in countries around the world. A prolific writer and composer, she has published over 35 best-selling and widely performed anthems. Her books and instructional materials have become standard resources for conductors and teachers everywhere. She has inspired fine composers to write choral music for children. A hallmark of her work was her ability to empower dedicated volunteers to be successful choir directors while presenting techniques so solid and engaging that highly-trained professionals continued to learn from her.
Upon her retirement from Westminster, Helen Kemp was named Professor Emerita of Voice and Church Music. She received honorary Doctorates from Westminster Choir College and Shenandoah University. She was awarded The Elaine Brown Award for Choral Excellence from the Pennsylvania ACDA, The Williamson Medal, and an honorary lifetime membership in the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. Helen was honored in 2008 by the establishment of the Choristers Guild Helen Kemp Lectureship, and in 2010 by the National ACDA with the The Helen Kemp Award for Lifetime Commitment to Excellence in Choral Music.
In the later years of her life, Helen developed a new passion for working with Singing Seniors. She conducted the ?Manor Singers? at the Manor at York Town, where she lived and thrived. Our family is grateful for the wonderful friendships that surrounded our Mom at the Manor, and we remember the Manor Singers for the joy they shared with all of us.
?She blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love.?
Our family: Julia Kemp Rothfuss and Guy, with Kristin Rothfuss (Bob) Erbst, Katja Rothfuss, Bryan Rothfuss (Jeannette Oswald); John Matthew Kemp and Mary, with Matthew (Kathy) Kemp, Molly (Jason) Hale; Michael E. Kemp and Janet, with Todd (Leslye) Kemp, Brad (Antonietta Vicario) Kemp, Erin (Peter) Beberman; Peggy KempHenry with Ella (Jason) Evans, Melissa Miller, Colin (Kailey) Miller; Kathy Kemp Ridl and Jim; and a mighty chorus of 18 great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and very special family friends.
A Memorial Service will be held in Princeton, NJ at Westminster Choir College, Bristol Chapel, on Saturday September 19 at 1:00pm. The service will be live-streamed for those who are not able to attend. For information regarding the Memorial Service, please visit: http://www.rider.edu/events/helen-hubbert-kemp-memorial-service
In lieu of flowers, sing a joyful song in Helen?s memory!
If you would like, donations may be made to:
The Kemp Endowment for Church Music
Westminster Choir College of Rider University
101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540
rider.edu/wcc
or
Choristers Guild
12404 Park Central Dr., Suite 100, Dallas, TX 75251-1802
choristersguild.org
or
Kemp Concert Series
First Presbyterian Church, 1001 NW 25th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73106
www.kempconcerts.org
Arrangements are by the Bernard Suess Funeral Home, Perkasie, PA
I sang in the children's choirs of Helen Kemp at the FPC on ninth street in the 1940's and 1950's. I will never forget the many musical events in which we participated including the Messiah. I know my love of music has a great foundation because of the love and caring and guidance of both Helen and her husband, John. Thank you. Ruth Carolyn Arbuckle Smith. Oklahoma City, Presbyterian Church
Ruth Smith
August 22, 2020 | Del Rio, TX | Student
I have only just listened to one of her pieces which I think was gorgeous. It is a crying shame that she passed on two years ago because I would have been so excited about any new release that she composed
Temitope Faleti
April 04, 2017
I will never forget the warmth and care Mrs. Kemp extended to me as her voice student at WCC. Her wonderful rolled "r's" and passion for bringing out the best in me has shaped and impacted my approach to music education. I was devastated when I got sick right before my senior voice recital bur she seemed to make me feel confident I could still perform. I have watched her training videos on teaching children how to sing and read all her materials. They are filled with powerful tools and...
Sharon Evans '83
September 22, 2015 | Carlsbad, CA
Oh what beautiful memories of singing with John and Helen Kemp! I was a very young choister in the church choir. Singing with the Kemps was a joy! A great beginning for my music awareness that has provided much joy in my life. Thank you Helen for your joy of life and music at every age of life!!
Gwyneth Mason
September 20, 2015 | Oklahoma City, OK
I am so sorry for your loss. Although I did not have the pleasure of knowing Helen and John as Sacred Music faculty at WCC, I had always heard of her and the impact she had on students and church musicians through the years, especially her work with children. She definitely has earned her heavenly reward.
John Kling
September 08, 2015 | Pennington, NJ
Helen and Uncle John were an important part of my musical life. Their love of God and music was a blessing to thousands of young people. Blessings to each of you. Alyson Hall Richards, Wimberley, Texas
Alyson Hall-Richards
August 31, 2015 | Wimberley, Texas
I had been Helen's hairstylist for over 20 years at Images salon in Sellersville. She meant the world to me, and I always enjoyed our time together in the salon. I also was John's hairstylist until his passing. The Two of them were such an inspiration and obviously adored each other. Please accept my sincere condolences. Donna Ricci
Donna Ricci
August 31, 2015 | Souderton, PA
I remember Helen and John Kemp as they guided and blessed a generation of us children/young people at the First Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. Our lives were filled with music because of this wonderful family on Wednesdays and Sundays both as participants and listeners. I especially remember singing the entire Handel's Messiah on the weekend after Thanksgiving in the sanctuary of the church on ninth street with the OKC Symphony and choirs from all of the OKC area. I'm certain many...
August 31, 2015
I first met Mrs. Kemp in 1967 when she directed the youth choir that I was in. My Mom, who was a Sweet Adeline, knew that this vocal guidance was something special. And the Kemps would sing as a family at the Christmas services. It was lovely. I'll never forget her.
Lorna
August 31, 2015 | Oklahoma City