Ira Forest Stanphill (February 14, 1914 – December 30, 1993) was a well-known American gospel music songwriter of the mid-twentieth century.
[2] On April 28, 1939, the Southern Missouri District Council of the Assemblies of God ordained Stanphill to the gospel ministry.
[2] Stanphill began preaching when he was 22,[3] first in a summer traveling ministry with Christian Ambassadors of the Assemblies of God, then becoming director of youth and music at a church in Breckenridge, Texas.
He later became music director at Faith Tabernacle in Oklahoma City, then became pastor of Trinity Assembly of God in Orange, California.
[13][14] The independent film This Side of Heaven, based on Stanphill's life, was produced in 1987 and was shot in and around the Dallas, Texas area.
By the age of 10, Stanphill had already become a fluent musician, having learned to play the piano, organ, ukulele, and accordion.
As a singer evangelist, Stanphill traveled the United States and Canada extensively and around the world to 40 countries over his career to preach and perform his music.
Many famous secular singers have performed his works, such as Elvis Presley ("Mansion Over the Hilltop") and Johnny Cash ("Suppertime").
On April 23, 1939, Stanphill married Zelma Lawson, a minister's daughter who "played piano by ear and accompanied her parents on a local radio program.
[2] Stanphill died of a heart attack December 30, 1993, in Overland Park, Kansas, less than two months shy of his 80th birthday.