Nearly every Sunday for the past five decades, Kathy Fox filled the sanctuary with organ music.
Just about every Sunday for the past five decades, the sanctuary of the Langley United Methodist Church has rumbled to life with the sound of Kathy Fox working the organ.
After half a century of tickling the ivory keys, the South Whidbey resident is ready to retire from her steady gig as the church’s longtime organist and pianist.
The story goes that an arm was twisted 50 years ago when Fox, then mainly a pianist, was asked by former minister Fred Hertzog in 1975 to be the church organist.
“That was an easy no,” Fox said.
But then the minister asked if she would consider splitting the duties with a friend from college who lived close by, and the answer turned to maybe. For a little while they traded off every other Sunday, until Fox took over the position full-time. When the church got a bigger and better electronic organ in the ‘80s, she was sent to lessons in Seattle to learn how to manage the full-length pedals and three rows of keys.
“I became a little more of an organist over the years,” she confessed.
Practicing in the empty church this past Wednesday, Fox played a collection of her favorite hymns, from “Be Thou My Vision” to “It is Well with My Soul” to “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”
“I love that hymn because it reminds me of my grandma,” she said of the latter song.
Though the pipes in the Langley United Methodist Church are merely ornamental, the electronic organ, with its building-shaking volume, still fools people into thinking they’re hearing a pipe organ. It encourages everyone to sing louder, but not everyone was a fan.
“One person actually said, ‘Nobody under 50 likes the organ, so if you want, you can just bag it,’” Fox recalled. “And I didn’t. I still played it a little, but that did stick. Really? Nobody under 50 likes the organ? Dang. But it turns out I get more compliments from young people.”
Indeed, a somewhat young Record reporter enjoyed what she heard this week in the sanctuary.
Betsy Arand, the church’s choir director, said the music is what convinced her and her husband that Langley United Methodist Church was the place they needed to go.
“I think many people who go to church maybe don’t realize the time commitment that’s involved,” she said of Fox’s dual roles as organist and pianist.
Arand added that Fox is an excellent accompanist, intuitively knowing where the choir might make a mistake and, without missing a beat, can transition and play their part as well as her own.
“She’s such a good musician that she can hear that and can seamlessly jump into helping the choir and anybody who’s in the congregation listening would have no idea that’s just happened,” Arand said. “I feel like it takes someone of the highest caliber to do that, and that’s what Kathy is.”
Being a church organist and pianist requires being constantly in tune with the congregation. Arand noted, with some humor, the sticky note she recently found on one of the hymns Fox plans on playing that declares, “The congregation does not like singing to this verse!”
“The fact that that little Post-it note was still on her copy of music was just very funny,” Arand said.
Bill Humphreys, the church’s former music director who now lives in New Mexico, said Fox was the inspiration for the instruments currently in the sanctuary, the electronic organ and the six-and-a-half-foot studio grand piano.
“She has been just absolutely amazing, just a phenomenal part of the growth and the spirit of the Methodist church over the years,” he said. “We worked together on concerts and with community people besides the regular church choir.”
When Humphreys was the music minister, concerts were a regular occurrence. Fox has many fond memories of these performances, which happened twice a year, every spring and Christmas.
Over the years, Fox has seen many changes, including the installation of the church’s current jewel-toned stained glass windows and the construction of the increasingly popular fellowship hall.
“With every minster there are changes,” she said. “We were really going strong in the ‘90s and had a huge congregation and even two services.”
Besides Sunday services, she’s played for countless weddings and funerals, though she can’t recall either one of those happening within the last year.
Born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota, Fox followed her piano teacher out to Bellingham, earning her master’s in piano performance at Western Washington University. She has been playing piano since the age of seven.
She always knew she wanted to have a piano studio in her own home, where she could teach students. She still teaches lessons today to both adults and kids.
“I will not retire from that,” she said.
John Tucker, the new minister at Langley United Methodist Church, said Fox has been a joy to work with over the past 10 months that he’s known her.
“She’s just been fantastic,” he said. “It’s no surprise that everyone loves her and they’re going to miss her.”
Fox will play just a couple more Sundays before officially retiring.
Kathy Fox at the piano in 2015, practicing during a rehearsal led by former music director Bill Humphreys.
Kathy Fox at the piano in 2015, practicing during a rehearsal led by former music director Bill Humphreys.
Sign Up
Nearly every Sunday for the past five decades, Kathy Fox filled the sanctuary with organ music.
Whether it’s “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars,” just about every franchise is represented.
Whidbey resident Florian Graner will present “Orcas – Life in Black and White” at the Clyde Theater.