I say that it was an uplanned trip;however, we knew that the day was coming just not when... Mr. Torkleson had been in a battle with cancer and in his last days had planned his service. He had several wishes and one of those wishes was for the Alumni Choir to sing a handful of songs that he selected for his funeral.
Traci had prepared me before we headed to South Dakota that we were going to meet up with several Alumni and friends some of which she had not seen in years.
We pulled into Vermillion about 11pm on Friday and promptly headed for one of the local establishments. She spent the next 3 hours getting caught up with her friends and sharing wonderful and funny stories about Mr. Torkleson and their time at the University of South Dakota (USD). I had the pleasure of listening to it all and enjoying their company.
I got full nights sleep in preparation for the next day's events as Traci tossed and turned for most of the night. The events included choir practice in the morning, lunch with friends, the service, and finally another night on the town sharing more Torkleson stories.
We arrived on campus and headed to the choir practice room about 11am. The plan was for the Alumni Choir to meet up and practice the songs that they were going to sing later that afternoon. I took a seat in the back of the room and sat as quiet as possible and watched as 50+ people assembled to join voices. I experienced the most amazing thing over the next hour.
The Alumni Choir consisted of former students from the 1970s to 2001 and as they walked in, everyone took their place without coordination. Even though a majority of these people had never met eachother, they knew where to stand and sang like they had been singing together for years.
For the most part, I was looking at the backs of heads and could see the sides of some faces. Everyone was singing with so much passion that it brought goosebumps to my arms and I choked up on more than one occasion as I saw tears welling up in some of the singers eyes.
The Alumni Choir
Mr. Torkleson was a lover of music for his entire life. I would go into detail but know that I could never articulate the magnitude of this man's passion. I do know that he helped commission a piece of music by Peter Williams and he develped a relationship with Mr. Williams over the years. One of the requests that Mr. Torkleson had was that the choir sing "Agnus Dei", the piece that he helped commision, and a song that the USD choir learned to love.
Mr. Williams was present to pay his respects and conduct the choir in their singing of this incredible song. When Peter Williams stepped in front of the choir, they appeared to stand taller and reach deep inside for a voice that was filled with power and emotion.
Mr. Williams also took a few moments to share some of the same wonderful stories with the alumni that they had shared with each other the night before.
Peter Williams conducting the Alumni Choir
Traci and some friends from her class
Once practice ended, we headed off to a South Dakota hot spot for lunch... Dairy Queen. Not sure how we picked this place out of the 4-5 options in the tiny town of Vermillion but the vote was overwhelming. ;-)
We arrived at the United Church of Christ about 1:30 and were seated shortly thereafter. The service was one that I will not soon forget. The pastor gave a wonderful sermon and shared many stories about Mr. Torkelson. The congregation joined together to sing "When in our Music God is Glorified" and "How Great Thou Art". Then the Alumni Choir then took to the stage around Mr. Torkelson's coffin and sang several wonderful songs to honor a man they all admired. Then came the time to sing Mr. Torkelson's favorite song. Once the choir started singing, it was apperant that "Agnus Dei" was everyone's favorite. I heard this song earlier, during practice; however, I was sitting behind the choir and did not realize that sitting in front of the singers made a difference. WOW!!! I cannot even begin to describe how powerful this song was. Everything about it was perfect... the singers, the words and most of all the emotion that filled everyone singing around Mr. Torkleson's coffin.
Alumni Choir at the funeral service
Following the service, we drove to his grave site. His site was located the edge of a hill overlooking the local airport. Music was not his only passion... he also loved to fly. We gathered around the site and everyone said their final goodbyes. As we were walking back to the cars, a plane flew overhead, circled and came in right over tops of the trees. It was one of his flying buddies paying tribute and saying his goodbye.
We met later that night at the same establishment that we met the night before and everyone picked up right where they had left off. One of Traci's friends, Elizabeth, brought several photo albums and everyone spent the night looking at the photos and reliving the memories of concerts, plays and parties of yester-year.
Celebrating the memories
Before we left, everyone expressed an interest in getting together yearly to honor Mr. Torkleson. As of today, I think the wheels of planning are in motion and we will more than like make a trip a year from now, up to Vermillion, for another round of singing, drinking and memory sharing. If anyone is interested in attending or wants to help to coordiante the next event, Anthony Burbach is the man to talk to.
A memorable quote from the weekend:
"Wow, there must be at least a million dead people here" From one of Mr. Torkelson's grandchildred when we arived at the cemetery.
Until next year...
Much love,
Bill and Traci
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