Dr. Myron Tweed, PLNU professor of music emeritus, passed away Sept. 28, after a
lengthy battle and complications of brain cancer. He was 83.
A faculty member from 1973 to 2000, Tweed directed and founded the choral group
Point Loma Singers and established many of the choral traditions still in use today on PLNU’s
campus.
President Brower sent an email to faculty on Sept. 30 detailing Dr. Tweed’s contributions
to PLNU, but also expressing the value and legacy he left to his students.
“Dr. Tweed has been a valuable member of the PLNU community and invested his gifts
and talents in the lives of his students. His professional and personal interests were exhibited
through his faithful commitment to Christ and to his work at PLNU and the church,” said Brower
in the email.
Robin Tweed, his daughter, remembers her father’s fervor for teaching music.
“His calling was church music and his passion was developing (choral tone and blend) in
youth to adult singers within the collegiate and church environment,” said Tweed via email. “His
goal was always to assist people to witness the presence of God in their lives.”
Tweed completed his doctoral work in Church Music at the University of Southern
California, built a music program at Bethel College in Indiana, served as PLNU faculty and
worked for 27 years as minister of music at First Presbyterian Church in downtown San Diego.
He expressed his love for music through it all.
Gayle Yelvington, who was a music major in vocal performance when Tweed was
teaching and is now an office assistant for Marketing and Creative Services, remembers how
Tweed taught hymns differently.
“While praising God is really great, a lot of these songs are really centered toward what
God has done for me or for the person, so it tends to be a little more me, me, me; and the one
thing Dr. Tweed always tried to help us focus on was God’s attributes,” she says. “So a lot of
the songs and pieces that he would choose were really centered towards God and not about the
person.”
Yelvington’s relationship with Tweed also went beyond the classroom. Her husband,
Jim Yelvington, also an alum, was in Point Loma Singers, and used to go to Padres games with
Tweed.
“Sometimes with professors you don’t get to see the person inside of them, and we
were able to do that,” said Yelvington. “I can remember Dr. Tweed calling our house when my
husband was a student and asking my husband if he wanted to go to a Padres game with him. I
couldn’t believe that a professor would ask a student to go and do something just completely
unrelated to school and classes and anything like that. That’s the kind of relationship they had.”
Apart from being a great friend, Tweed was a spiritual mentor to many. Paul Kenyon,
a colleague of Tweed’s for 10 years and a current PLNU professor of music, said that he
remembered Tweed’s voice as a voice from God and one that called people to attention.
“The one thing, if you talk to anybody who knew him, he had this voice, a speaking voice
that we would joke sounded like the voice of God,” said Kenyon.
Using his voice, Tweed put great focus on his students, thus fueling the passions of many
whom he encountered. Professor of music Dr. Keith Pedersen worked with Tweed and says he
admired Tweed’s interaction with students.
“On the one hand, there was almost a stern outer persona if you didn’t know him well,
but the students who knew him well really held a sentiment and sincere affection for him because
he had obviously impressed them with his affection for them, his care and concern for them, and
his own faith and how he lived that out,” said Pedersen.
Tweed’s love for God influenced every part of his life, something Robin Tweed will
always remember of her father.
“My dad loves homemade ice cream, blueberries and peanuts in the shell, he is a great
musician, choral director and sports fan, but above all he is a man of God. He has used the
wisdom of his Father, the gift of musical talent and the creativity of his family to reflect his love
for the Lord.”
Steve Anderson 
superadmin