Janie Thompson, A Legend at BYU

Christmas 1952 in Glendive (home from BYU) I was very concerned about the state of my Dad's office at Anderson's store.  I had it in good order when I went to college but he had lost his secretary and all was behind.  I suggested I stay home and train my friend Lorraine who was not going back to college, as she was planning an August wedding to a local rancher.  This I did and then went back to college in the spring and stayed through summer and on in to my junior year.

Luckily for me, Janie Thompson was at the Campus Dorm where I was the summer of 53 and there were continual impromptu sessions at the piano.  My roommate, Ellie, was a singer also and I was a supportive audience for all these entertainers.  Janie was something else, so talented, so outgoing, so friendly and inclusive of even the shy people like me.  The summer of 53 with only 1000 students on campus was a very, very fun time for me.

Today I watched a BYU show about Janie Thompson and her career.  Also appearing was Norm Nielson who worked with her.  He used to buy from me at the Dairy Freez and would stay on and talk and talk to me whenever business was slow--usually late at night.  He also was an entertainer.  The show answered some questions I always wondered about. 

Janie graduated from BYU in 1943 and then she entertained troops in the USO overseas.  She worked with Mickey Rooney, Tony Bennett, etc.  Here she is in 2000 being reunited with Tony Bennett.

She did fall in love with a non member--he specifically got out of the service in Germany so he could stay there and wait until her job was finished six months later.  She tried to convert him but it did not work.  She would not marry a nonmember.  She fell in love two more times, another was a nonmember so she did not marry.  The third was a returned missionary but the only thing they had in common was the church.  She decided she would have a full life without marriage.  She was in the Ike Carpenter band until she had a shadow on her lungs and had to stop singing.  She was called on a mission to Wales--in fact her Patriarch called across the street to her one day and said he had a blessing for her--did she want it?  She said that blessing was like the Lord talking directly to her and confirmed she should go on a mission.

She actually stayed in the same place and slept in the same bed her whole mission.  The first thing they asked her when she arrived was "Can you play the piano?"  Janie always accepted the fact that she had been given many talents and she was always determined to serve the Lord with them.  She had to overcome her shyness at being in front of people but she did.  After her mission she was passing through Las Vegas and saw Ike Carpenter was playing at the Flamingo, he asked her to join them.  However, President Wilkinson also called and asked her to return to BYU as the head of the Student Program Bureau.  She said she did not want to accept this call but she knew she should, and did.  She cried all the way to Provo.  This was in summer 1952.

In fall 1952 she wrote "A Y's Promise" for Homecoming--this was my first introduction to her. I looked and yes, I still have my copy -- very dog eared. That summer of 1953 we sang it many times at Campus Dorm.

A Y's Promise I'll make to you and to that Y's Promise I'll e're be true.

You'll find a Y's future is part of the scheme, every girl's dream, may with you come true at BYU.

The Y's spirit is in my heart, to me its so dear it can never depart

With eyes looking toward a future new, I'll give a Y's Y's Promise to you.                 

Here at the BYU, students are learning to build up a worth while future life. 

We're always studying to prepare for a career so fair, or just to be a loving wife.

We want to keep with honor our hopes burning high, here at the Y where we learn in youth of love and truth.

Coming from far and near students are welcome here. 

Friendly and happy be, At BYU, are the promises of lasting happiness And it will come to you and me.

So with eyes looking toward a future new, I'll give a Y's Y's Promise to You.

My dog eared copy of  "A Y's Promise"

The Student Program Bureau put on 2,463 shows within four years, and under Thompson's direction visited every high school in the state of Utah during the 1952-1953 school year. Shows consisted of anything from one solo to an hour and a half performance. These shows served not only as a recruiting tool but also a way to open the doors for missionaries through out the country. Thompson provided BYU shows for the U.S. Defense Department for the service men and women all over the world in order to boost morale. She also performed for the Department of State to provide good will between different countries.  They were the first into China and Viet Nam and performed in India when the church was first introduced to the country.  Mrs. Ghandi said they do more for friendship between the countries than all of the ambassadors.

After four years at BYU, (she said she was having a nervous breakdown she had worked so hard) Thompson moved to New York where she coached talent in a professional talent studio. There she worked with the Kane Sisters. In addition, Thompson had her own quartet that played in various places including Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Three years later, however, Thompson returned to BYU and the Program Bureau.

 By her retirement in 1984, Thompson had created six touring shows including Brigham Youngsters, Young Ambassadors, Lamanite Generation, Holiday in the U.S. and Curtain Time USA. Two of them -- the Young Ambassadors and Lamanite Generation (now Living Legends) still continue to tour, serving as ambassadors for the University.
Incidentally the 'Young' stands for Brigham Young, not youth...

In 2009, the film Janie Thompson: Performance of Faith premiered at the LDS Film Festival in Orem, Utah, which honored Thompson for all of her contributions to BYU. It continues to show periodically on BYU TV.

(This film was very inspiring to me).