In 1992, the news of Patty's
divorce from manager John
Helvering shocked the gospel
music industry. The reason for
the split was later revealed to
be infidelity which
subsequently stalled her career
in the mid 1990s. During her
marriage, it was later reported
that Patty had an extramarital
affair with her back up singer,
Don Peslis, who was also
married at the time. Patty
divorced Helvering in 1993
and married Peslis in August
1995. Confronted with rumors
of the affair just two weeks
into her marriage with Peslis,
Patty made a full confession to
her church congregation.
Patty slowly rebuilt her career
by expanding her musical
appeal which included pop
concert performances with
symphony orchestras including
the New York Symphony
Orchestra, Boston Symphony
Orchestra, Prague Symphony
Orchestra,London Symphony
Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops,
and the Dallas Symphony as
well as headlining and hosting
the Yuletide Celebration with
the Indianapolis Symphony
Orchestra in 2000, 2002, 2005,
2007, 2010, 2013, under the
direction of Maestro Jack
Everly. She is scheduled to
host the 30th annual Yuletide
Celebration in December 2015.
In both interviews and in her
autobiography, Broken on the
Back Row, Patty expressed
remorse and took full
responsibility for her past
actions and revealed the steps
she took in seeking the
forgiveness from those that her
actions most affected.
In 2000, Patty had a guest
singing appearance at the end
of a 7th Heaven episode
(season four, episode 20). She
appeared in the 2006
annual Macy's Thanksgiving
Day Parade in New York. A
televised performance of Sandi
Patty's Yuletide Special was
filmed for syndication in 2006,
JOY FEELINGS | DECEMBER ISSUE
64