Music by a composer with ties to Woodbury was performed as part of the State Funeral for President Jimmy Carter last week. “The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus, was the first song of the service in the Washington National Cathedral. “Pilgrims Hymn,” another of Paulus’ nearly 500 compositions, was included in memorials for Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

Paulus died ten years ago. He was married to Patty Stutzman Paulus, who serves on the Woodbury Heritage Board as a volunteer. Her family owned the Marsh Creek land before it was sold to development. The Heritage House/Museum, which was in her family for a long time, is now preserved at Marsh Creek Park. The Stutzmans were among of the first settlers in Woodbury.

“The Road Home” a best-selling choral piece, was composed by Paulus with text by poet Michael Dennis Browne. Commissioned and premiered by the Dale Warland Singers in 2002, it has since grown to become Paulus’s most performed work, selling hundreds of thousands of scores and generating performances across the world.