O To Be Like Thee

10. O To Be Like Thee – Lyrics: T. O. Chisholm; © 1924 by Mrs. L. E. Sweeney Kirkpatrick, Haldor Lillenas, Owner.
(public domain)

10. O To Be Like Thee (Words: Thomas O. Chisholm. Music: William J. Kirkpatrick. 1897)
Lead Vocal: Jamie Dailey
Tenor Vocal: Anthony Facello
Baritone Vocal: Darrin Vincent
Bass Vocal: Glenn Dustin
The author of these lyrics and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” was born in a Kentucky log cabin in 1866. At the age of 16, with only an eighth-grade education, he became a schoolteacher. Later a minister, he was forced by ill health to leave that career. The composer was a Pennsylvania-born schoolteacher, musician, and choirmaster, who also wrote “Lord I’m Coming Home.” Jamie found “O To Be Like Thee” in a songbook and thought it would be “a good one for us.” Darrin recalls singing it in church.