 His father, a Methodist choirmaster, used the "Propior Deo" version at church.His family were certain that he would have used the "Propior Deo" version, and it is this tune's opening notes that appear on Hartley's memorial and that were played at his funeral.However, a record slip for a 1913 Edison cylinder recording of "Nearer, My God, to Thee", featuring the "Bethany" version, states that "When the great steamship 'Titanic' sank in mid-ocean in April 1912, it was being played by the band and sung by the doomed passengers, even as the boat took her final plunge."