Kilgen Pipe Organ

Kilgen Pipe Organ - 

Our pipe organ was built in the late 1920’s by George Kilgen and Sons of Saint Louis, MO and paid for by former pastor Monsignor Peter C. Winters. Its restoration 50 years ago, in 1970, was overseen by parish organist Raymond Paradis. In 1983, the Crossan-Savage Organ Company of Cedars, PA made tonal changes to the organ. Original ranks of pipes were removed and new ranks were added. In late 2018, the parish realized that the organ was going to need additional work. The Peragallo Pipe Organ Company of Paterson, NJ, with sub-contractor Trivo Reed Company of Hagerstown, MD, completed a refurbishment of our pipe organ between January and March of 2020, coinciding with the church restoration. A crew of eight workers disassembled the organ in a matter of eight hours on Monday, January 6, 2020. The organ was set to be reinstalled at Saint John’s beginning Monday, March 23, 2020, but stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 health crisis delayed the organ’s return to Saint John’s by almost two months. Reinstallation took place during May 2020, and tuning and tonal regulation occurred in June and July. The refurbished organ was played for the first time at Mass on Saturday, July 18, 2020.