Mary Harlan

Mary Harlan is our part-time Director of Music and Organist.  Mary grew up on a farm in a rural community just up the road from Galesburg.  She has been engaged in church music most of her life, first coming to our church as a young wife and mother to serve as our organist.  She and her family moved away for Mary to do her undergrad work at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale), and then went on to earn a Master in Music in Organ and Church Music at Indiana University.  She returned to our church in July, 1995, to serve full-time in a hybrid role as both Director of Christian Education and Director of Music.  After several years, she chose to specialize in the music end of things, moving to halftime at church and taking on private students and teaching piano, first at Carl Sandburg College for several years, and then at Knox College here in Galesburg.  Mary has three adult children — Margaret (and John) Phillips, Janice (and Jim) Brattvet; and Patrick (and Eve) — and five grandchildren, all out of town.  In her spare time, Mary serves as pianist and organist for Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral Home and enjoys babysitting her grandchildren in the Quad Cities.