A Marriage built on Love, Devotion, and Christian Faith

Don Saliers 1937 - Present

1937

1967

1974

1975 - 2006

Today

Born in Ohio

Mother died when Don was a toddler. Raised by his Aunt in a household where the church hymnal sat as close to hand as the family Bible and where singing was the first theology he learned.

Doctorate at Yale

Graduate study in theology carried him toward the question that would occupy a lifetime: What does the church actually believe when it prays?

Candler School of Theology

Joined the Emory University faculty in Atlanta, where he taught theology and worshp to generations of pastors, musicians, and scholars.

University Organist

Directed the Master of Sacred Music program and served as university organist, insisting that the practice of music and the study of doctrine belong in the same room.

A Song to Sing, A Life to Live

Wrote with his daughter Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls on music as a spiritual practice, tracing one conversation across the sanctuary and the concert hall.

Professor Emeritus

Continues to write, lecture, and play, still asking congregations to notice what their singing is teaching them.

Yale Divinity School

Don served as Assistant Professor of Theology and Worship at Yale Divinity School, reaching students to understand their worship experience is related to their theology.

Jane Firmin Saliers

1937 - 2011

1937

Born in Ohio

Raised in Findlay, Ohio, the only daughter of Charles and Eloise Firmin. Where Christian music was front and center in family life

1959

1959

Attended Ohio Wesleyan University graduating in 1959, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree. While attending Ohio Wesleyan University, Don served as student pastor at the local Methodist Church where he and Jane attended regular Sunday services.

Graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University

Graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University

Attended Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, majoring in French and English literature, graduating in 1959. A member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, she sang in the University Concert Choir for four years, and served on the staff of the OWL, a campus literary magazine. While at Ohio Wesleyan she met her future husband and often accompanied him to a rural Methodist Church where he served as a student pastor.

1959

1959

She married Don E. Saliers on August 15, 1959, shortly after which they moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where her husband attended and later taught at Yale Divinity School. She taught freshman English in Milford, Connecticut, until the birth of their first child.

Married Don Saliers

August 15, 1959

Married Jane Firmin

August 15, 1959

Don married Jane Firmin on August 15, 1959, shortly after which they moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where Don attended and later taught at Yale Divinity School. He received both his Bachelor of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy at Yale Divinity School.

1972

Masters in Library Science

1974

Jane earned a Masters in Library Science degree from Southern Connecticut University in 1972.

Moved to Atlanta, Georgia

She moved with the family to Atlanta, Georgia, in July of 1974 when her husband was appointed to teach at Emory University's Candler School of Theology. She sang in the University Worship Choir at Emory for nearly twenty-five years. Her hospitality to students in the choir was legendary.

1966 - 1972

1980s

For fifteen years Jane sang in the choir and served on the session at First Presbyterian Church in New Haven. While raising four daughters, she also volunteered to deliver books to the elderly, thus beginning her long career as a public librarian. Jane earned a Masters in Library Science degree from Southern Connecticut University in 1972.

Life in New Haven

She served for nearly thirty years as a children's librarian in the Atlanta Fulton-County Library System, first at Inman Park Branch, and then for many years at the Ponce de Leon Branch where she was beloved by children and adult patrons alike. She strongly supported the Summer Reading Programs. She was an excellent story-teller and an active member of the Southern Order of Storytellers. In 2006 she retired from the Ponce de Leon Branch after serving nearly 30 years. Jane loved Atlanta's children and was a great encouragement to young readers through her craft programs and story times, as well as to older children in the summer reading programs.

Atlanta Fulton-County Librarian

2009

In 2009 Jane was honored with the Seanachie Award from the Southern Order of Storytellers.

Seanachie Award

2011

Jane Firmin Saliers Passed Away

Jane Firmin Saliers died peacefully on Saturday, March 5, 2011 following a lengthy struggle with frontal lobe dementia.

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2005

1966 - 1972