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Remembering Myron Tweed: a ‘voice of God’

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.”

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