Gerrit de Jong Jr.

Gerrit de Jong Jr. (28 March 1892, Amsterdam – 26 September 1978, Provo, Utah)[1] was the first dean of the College of Fine Arts at Brigham Young University (BYU). He converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Dutch Reformed (Protestant) tradition in his late teens.

De Jong was skilled in music and wrote the words and music for the Latter-day Saint hymn, "Come Sing to the Lord," which is number 10 in the 1985 hymnal.[2]

Even though he was dean of the College of Fine Arts, de Jong spent most of his career teaching foreign languages. He was known as "Mr. Portuguese" because of his knowledge of Portuguese and Brazilian literature.

The De Jong Concert Hall at BYU is named in his honor.[3]

References
  1. Margaret Harris Stover, The Descendants of Uldrich Winegar of Amenia, Dutchess County, New York, 1998
  2. J. Spencer Cornwall. "The Story of our Latter-day Saint hymns".
  3. "Harris Fine Arts Center". music.byu.edu. . Accessed 27 August 2007.


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