WEST POINT — Xzavier Orr was about to go into the ninth grade when his house burned down, and his family lost almost everything.

But as his mother tried to figure out what to do next, she got a call from Susie Marshall, long-time music educator and founder of West Point Christian Children’s Community Choir based out of First Presbyterian Church. Even though Orr had technically aged out of the children’s choir program, Marshall was calling to check on his family.

“I never will forget it,” Orr told The Dispatch Sunday afternoon. “I was sitting right there by my mom. And she was (really) sad because we had lost everything in a house fire. And (Marshall) called and said, ‘what do I need to do? As a matter of fact, when you get time, come by the house.’ She made sure we had clothes, food, school supplies. Everything we needed.”

Orr, now 24 years old, was one of many former children’s choir members who gathered Sunday night at Fresh Church for a concert. The concert was a surprise for Marshall, recognizing the impact she has had on their lives since the West Point Christian Children’s Community Choir started in 2001.

“I’m just speechless,” Marshall said during the concert.

Marshall started the choir at the request of two of her students, she told The Dispatch Friday.

Each semester for eight weeks, children from all over the community would gather for the choir program at First Presbyterian Church every Wednesday to practice singing and reciting Bible verses.

The choir has held two programs around Easter and Christmas every year since its inception, Marshall said, except for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic and this year, when she had to step away to care for a family member.

That’s what made Alexis Hannah, one of Marshall’s former choir members, decide to organize Sunday’s appreciation concert. Hannah was a part of the choir for many years, she said, and she still remembers being a part of the group fondly. She wanted to bring the former members back together, to give back what Marshall gave to them.

“We’ve gathered to give her appreciation,” Hannah said. “To not let this die. To keep it going and unify the community. That’s one of our key things. We get in here, we pray, we worship, and as the Lord leads us, we go.”

Hannah’s son, Miguel Foster, is now nine years old, and a member of the West Point Christian Children’s Community Choir. He said he used to have stage fright, but working with Marshall since last spring has helped him to get past his fear.

“My mama always used to talk about her to me,” Foster said. “And when I heard my mama talking about her, saying she was a good woman, I started wanting to go there.”

Jakayla Orr, Xzavier’s younger sister, was one of the former choir members that returned for the concert. She started singing in the choir in the third grade.

Sunday, at 23-years-old, Jakayla Orr said she still remembers the ice cream sandwiches Marshall used to give out to the choir members. She also quoted one of her memory verses from years ago, Matthew 7:7, saying Marshall was influential in her faith.

“She introduced God in my life, and I didn’t know then that she was really a need and not just a want in my life,” Jakayla Orr said.

Another former choir member, Kailyn Randle, said Marshall helped to keep her focused and driven throughout her life, fueling her passion for music and her faith. Randle is now a singer, instrumentalist and minister at 22 years old.

“She’s been with me ever since I met her,” Randle said. “She was my music teacher in elementary school. And from elementary until now, she’s been with me. So, anything I could do for her, to help celebrate her, I have to do it.”

Besides helping his family after the fire, Xzavier Orr said Marshall also helped to improve his confidence and his passion for music and his faith over the years. While he now works at the Mississippi Department of Health, he still sings on weekends and records music, primarily southern soul music. He considers Marshall a “childhood celebrity.”

“I love her, and anything I can do for Ms. Marshall, I will most definitely do that,” Xzavier Orr said.

Randle and others in the choir said Marshall impacted many more people than were able to be present Sunday. One member who was not able to be there, but who would have wanted to be, Randle said, was Anihya Nesbitt, who passed away earlier this year.

Marshall said the former members have become like children to her, and they have shown up for her throughout hard times of her life, too. Two years ago, when a member of Marshall’s family passed away just before Thanksgiving, she called former members of her choir to provide music at the cemetery, Marshall said.

“I just kept saying, ‘I’m going to get through this, but I have to have music, and I surely cannot do it,’” Marshall said. “Every time I would start to talk, I would start crying. So I called Kailyn and Jakayla and Calvin (Golden), and I said, ‘I know you have Thanksgiving with all of your family, and you have things to do at church, but tell me when you can sing at the cemetery and we’ll have some music.’”

Marshall said her continued bond with the former choir members has made a deep impact on her life. Though she has had to step away from the choir and its programs for the time being, she said she hopes to continue the program, along with her husband Bob Marshall and her fellow helpers, Carol Hazard, Darcelle Hines, Judi Segrest, Sarah Jones, Ginger and Mike Harvey, Sarah Jennings Black, Dianne and Mike Matthews, Esther Gibson and First Presbyterian’s Pastor Brandon Bates.

“What it does for me is fill my heart with joy and love. I just don’t think I would be able to do without staying in touch with them,” Marshall said. “I really miss it, and wish that it could start back.”

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