Introduction

Biography

Stanger was an edu­cat­or, or­gan­ist, and co­mpos­er, and an or­dained min­is­ter in the Ev­an­gel­ic­al and Re­formed Church.

He studied at Ed­en Theo­lo­gic­al Sem­in­ary, Web­ster Groves, Mis­sou­ri, then spent three years as a min­is­ter in De­troit, Mi­chi­gan.

Af­ter­ward, he at­tend­ed North­west­ern Uni­ver­si­ty, Ev­ans­ton, Illinois, where he re­ceived a mas­ter’s de­gree in lang­uag­es.

He was a pro­fess­or of lan­guag­es and mu­sic at Elm­hurst Col­lege (now Elm­hurst Uni­ver­si­ty), Elm­hurst, Il­linois, for ov­er 50 years. Among his pu­pils was theo­lo­gian Rein­hold Nie­buhr.

While at Elm­hurst, Stang­er taught French, Ger­man and Span­ish. He was al­so the or­gan­ist and choir di­rect­or at St. Pe­ter’s Unit­ed Church of Christ in Elm­hurst for ma­ny years.

He re­tired from teach­ing in 1947.

Works

As a com­pos­er, Stang­er is re­mem­bered for his sac­red chor­al works and hymn tunes. His tune Hum­ble Ser­vice was pub­lished in St. Lou­is, Mis­sou­ri and Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois, in 1921.