Hymns by Lester Ray Sandy

Lester Ray Sandy was my grandfather. He was born January 16, 1891, and died in 1971. He and Maddie Maude Wright Sandy were married on May 12,1916. Grandma's birthday was August 3,1899. While I was growing up, they lived in the bottom apartment of our house. I spent many hours there with them, learning to quilt and cook from Grandma. From Grandpa I learned to play Scrabble, love pink wintergreen lozenges, and his songs--the same songs I sang at Vacation Bible School at Brother Ray's church on Morgantown Avenue in my hometown. Here is a picture of Grandma and Grandpa in their living room at Christmastime with Brother Ray. This picture came from the photo album of my Aunt Icie and Uncle Clarence Rowand.

The picture used on this page as background and below was always lit up in their living room. Every child who came to their home would turn it on.

Recently, my oldest aunt, Icie Sandy Rowand, and her daughters, Corda Rowand Martin and Cynthia Rowand Byrd, put together a digital copy of my grandfather's songs from his handwritten copies. He wrote these songs after his conversion at the age of 63. I never knew who had them or if they had ever been written down. My other aunts have also been assimilating their copies of the songs to make sure we have all of them. These pages will eventually showcase those songs. I am working on them in an order known only to myself. I started with number one but intend to follow through with the songs I remember from my childhood and any that my family would like me to complete. The table below lists all 119 songs in the numerical order I received them from my aunts and cousins. Others will be added as they are discovered. Here is an alphabetical listing of songs if you prefer.

Background Set, Courtesy of

Text of Hymns © Icie E. Sandy Rowand, 2002, all rights reserved.

Web page design © Betty Sandy Smith, all rights reserved.