Introduction

Biography

John was the son of Carl Yl­vi­sak­er and Ma­rie Slet­vold, and hus­band of Fern Kru­ger.

He earned his ba­che­lor’s de­gree in mu­sic and his­to­ry in 1959 from Con­cor­dia Col­lege, Moor­head, Min­ne­so­ta, where his mo­ther was the li­brar­i­an and his father had chaired the Re­li­gion De­part­ment.

He taught high school mu­sic in Mor­ris and Haw­ley, Min­ne­so­ta, then be­came a par­ish as­sist­ant at St. Phil­ip’s Lu­ther­an Church in Frid­ley, Min­ne­so­ta.

Later he taught jun­ior high school for four years in Buf­fa­lo, Min­ne­so­ta.

He then spent 15 years work­ing for the Am­er­ican Lu­ther­an Church (ALC) in Min­ne­ap­olis in their Me­dia Ser­vic­es di­vi­sion.

He be­came the com­pos­er-in-re­si­dence for their pro­jects and helped pro­duce their ra­dio show, SCAN.

He was al­so mu­sic di­rect­or at Re­for­ma­tion Lu­ther­an Church in St. Lou­is Park, Min­ne­so­ta, dur­ing those years.

He was said to have co­py­right­ed ov­er 1,000 songs.