Born: Sep­tem­ber 6, 1880, Bed­ford, Io­wa.

Died: Ap­ril 3, 1950, Los An­ge­les, Cal­i­for­nia.

Buried: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.

Pseudonym: Fred B. Hol­ton.

Wilson’s sis­ter taught him to play the vi­o­lin and or­gan while still at home. Around 1902, Ira be­gan stu­dies at the Moo­dy Bi­ble In­sti­tute in Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois. In 1905, he went to work for the Lorenz Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny in Day­ton, Ohio. His com­po­si­tions ap­peared in The Choir Lead­er and The Choir Her­ald; he al­so served as ed­it­or in chief of The Vol­un­teer Choir.

Sources

Hymns

  1. Make Me a Bless­ing (© 1924)

Music

  1. Angels’ Chorus, The
  2. God is Good­ness, God Is Love
  3. May God Depend on You?
  4. Was There Ev­er a Friend So True?
  5. Who Will Our Pilot Be?