Editing Thomas A. Dorsey (section)

==Later life (1934–1993)==
[[File:Pilgrim Baptist HABS ILL-1054.jpg|thumb|right|[[Pilgrim Baptist Church]] in Chicago, 1964, where Dorsey was music director for 50 years]]

Dorsey lived a quiet life despite his influence. He did not seek publicity, preferring to remain at his position as music director at the 3,000-seat Pilgrim Baptist Church and running his publishing company.  As the head of the NCGCC, he traveled the "gospel highway": a circuit of churches and similar venues throughout the U.S. where he trained singers and choirs. Between 1932 and 1944, he held "Evenings with Dorsey" on this circuit, teaching novices the best ways to deliver his songs. He also toured extensively with Mahalia Jackson in the 1940s, who was by this time the preeminent gospel singer in the world.<ref>Heilbut, pp. 33–34.</ref><ref name="lornell">Lornell, Kip, "Dorsey, Thomas (1899–1993) Blues and Gospel Musician and Composer", ''The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture'' Volume 12: Music, pp. 221–223.</ref> Never considering himself a strong singer, Dorsey recorded gospel music sporadically up to 1934, and two songs in 1953 were his last, though he continued to write.<ref name="oneal"/>

During his blues period, Dorsey presented himself as dapper and dignified, which carried over into his gospel work. He is described as stately and often detached, one writer attesting that from a distance, "Dorsey is not presented as a happy man. Fulfilled, perhaps. Doing the Lord's work, absolutely. But he never smiles, rarely relaxes, and when he talks it's with a brooding vigilance bordering on surliness. He is a truly mesmerizing figure, the stuff of which legends are made."<ref name="oneal"/> However, once known, Dorsey could offer a "charming smile", according to Heilbut, and his enthusiasm "often lifts his voice to an irrepressible falsetto".<ref>Heilbut, p. 22.</ref> After writing to his sister that he was lonely and wanted to be around children, she sent Dorsey's niece [[Lena McLin]] to live with him. McLin remembered that her uncle was "soft-spoken, not loud at all, and very well dressed... he always had a shirt and a tie and a suit, and he was always elegant, very mannerly, very nice. And he would sit at the piano and play something and say, 'That's good stuff!'"<ref>Marovich, p. 108.</ref>{{efn|McLin became a composer, singer, and voice coach for [[Chaka Kahn]], [[Jennifer Hudson]], and [[Mandy Patinkin]]. (Ben-Arnots, Zach, [https://abc7chicago.com/gospel-music-chicago-thomas-dorsey/5433633/ Living legends of Chicago gospel honor tradition, carry on family legacies]", ABC7Chicago.com (July 31, 2019). Retrieved August 2020.)}}

He remarried in 1941 to Katheryn Mosley. They had two children, a son named Thomas M. "Mickey" and a daughter, Doris. Even with a family he remained active in music, attending multiple engagements each year. Katheryn Dorsey stated, "I'd have to catch him between trains because he was hardly ever at home... The only thing he cared about was saving souls through his music."<ref name="dedication ajc">"Dedication: Thomas Dorsey Dedication Day", ''The Atlanta Journal and Constitution'', (June 26, 1994), Sunday Section M; Page 1.</ref>

To accomplish this, Dorsey traveled beyond the U.S., through Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East. He recalled visiting [[Damascus, Syria]], where he was approached in a bathroom by a man who recognized his name. A tour group of 150 demanded he sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" right there. Obliging, Dorsey began, but the multinational group took over: "And they knew it in Damascus, too. Folk was wipin' their eyes, and some cryin' and bawlin' on, and I told ‘em, 'What is this happenin' here? I'll never get out of this place alive.'"<ref name="oneal"/>

When he gave interviews later in his life, he never condemned blues music or his experiences in that period. He remained in contact with his friends and fellow blues musicians, saying, "I'm not ashamed of my blues. It's all the same talent. A beat is a beat whatever it is."<ref>Heilbut, p. 34.</ref><ref name="oneal"/> Dorsey began to slow down in the 1970s, eventually showing symptoms of [[Alzheimer's disease]]. He retired from Pilgrim Baptist Church and the NCGCC soon after, though he continued to participate and perform when he was able. He and the NCGCC were featured in the critically acclaimed documentary ''[[Say Amen, Somebody]]'' in 1982. The 1981 meeting featured in the film was the last convention he was able to attend. Dorsey died of Alzheimer's at his home in Chicago on January 23, 1993, listening to music on a [[Walkman]].<ref name="dedication ajc"/><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/25/arts/thomas-a-dorsey-is-dead-at-93-known-as-father-of-gospel-music.html|title = Thomas A. Dorsey Is Dead at 93; Known as Father of Gospel Music|last = Pace|first = Eric|date = January 25, 1993|accessdate = February 15, 2024|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|page = B7|url-access = limited}}</ref> He is buried at [[Oak Woods Cemetery]] in Chicago.<ref>Reich, Howard, "[https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-01-29-9303173594-story.html Spirit of Dorsey's Songs Fills His Funeral Service]", ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', (January 29, 1993). Retrieved August 2020.</ref>