President Hinckley's Hymn

What Is This Thing That Men Call Death'
By President Gordon B. Hinckley

What is this thing that men call death,
This quiet passing in the night?
'Tis not the end, but genesis
Of better worlds and greater light.
O God, touch thou my aching heart,
And calm my troubled, haunting fears.
Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,
Give strength and peace beyond my tears.
There is no death, but only change,
With recompense for vict'ry won.
The gift of him who loved all men,
The Son of God, the Holy One.

The funeral of Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, included a surprise from Hinckley himself. Following the address given by Earl C. Tingey, a counselor in the LDS Presiding Bishopric, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir gave the first-ever public performance of the hymn "What Is This Thing That Men Call Death," written as a poem by Hinckley and set to music by widely respected composer and Provo resident Janice Kapp Perry.

Perry said in a e-mail that Hinckley's poem was brought to her attention late last year by a niece, Kathy Blacker, who was dying of cancer. The poem comforted Blacker, Perry said, and "she wrote to President Hinckley's office to ask permission to have the poem printed on her funeral program."

Permission was granted, along with a personal response from Hinckley's secretary, Don Staheli, that included words of comfort from Hinckley himself. Blacker encouraged Perry to ask Staheli whether she could create a musical setting for Hinckley's text. Staheli said that music had been written for the words once before, but that Hinckley had no objection to a new setting.

Perry set to work and submitted her completed new arrangement for Hinckley's approval in December. When she learned of his death on Jan. 27, Perry assumed that Hinckley wouldn't have seen what she'd done. To her surprise, a letter from Hinckley's office arrived the following morning.

"I was extremely grateful to receive the letter," Perry said. Within hours of its delivery, she was contacted by Craig Jessop, director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, to find out whether the hymn could be considered for use in the funeral program.

-- Cody Clark