History of Resurrection's Pipe Organ
1889 - 2011
The pipe organ at Resurrection Lutheran is both a viable
musical instrument and an important piece of American
organ-building history – with a unique history of its own.
The firm of Whalley & Genung was founded in Oakland,
California around 1889. Thomas Whalley had wanted to become
an organist but an accident at a mill resulted in the loss
of a finger, putting an end to this goal. Instead, Thomas
Whalley turned to building organs. Little is known of the
Whalley & Genung firm, and the partnership was short-lived.
Evidence has been found of five organs built by the firm in
the period of roughly 1888-1890. Of these, three are known
to exist. Only one of those is an original installation: the
2-manual, 13-rank, 1889 Whalley & Genung at the Presbyterian
Church in Port Townsend, WA. Another Whalley and Genung from
1888 survives in at least its third home at Eidsvold
Lutheran Church in Somers, Montana.
The organ currently at Resurrection Lutheran was built in
1889 for Zion Lutheran Church of Oakland, California In
1930, Zion Lutheran acquired a new organ and the Whalley and
Genung was sold to Grace Lutheran Church of Visalia,
California. It was moved there by the original builder,
Thomas Whalley, the year before his death. In the 1960's,
Grace Lutheran also acquired a new pipe organ.
Coincidentally their former pastor was called to serve
Resurrection Lutheran. He informed the congregation that
they could have the old Grace organ for $200.00 and would
have to retrieve it from California. The young congregation
sent several people to Visalia to bring the organ back, and
it was placed in storage in the basement of the church for
several years.
In 197x, RLC contracted with Glenn White DBA Olympic Organ
Builders to reassemble the organ in the newly-built
[present] sanctuary.
As the un-restored organ continued to age and decay from
regular use, it became clear that some sort of action would
need to be taken. In the Summer of 2010 the congregation decided to keep this
historic piece of their heritage and have it rebuilt in a
manner that would make it mechanically reliable and aurally
pleasing.
Puget Sound Pipe Organs of Seattle was selected to perform
the work. The biggest visual impact was the recreation of
the missing case side towers, removed in 1930. This gave the
organ a more balanced appearance, and brought the largest
bass pipes back out into the open where they belonged. As
completed, the organ now has all four families of tone
represented again: Diapasons, Flutes, Strings, and Reeds.
The organ has 12 independent registers, 12 speaking stops,
and 12 ranks, and speaks with a voice of authenticity lost
long ago. May it so speak for generations to come. Soli Deo
Gloria!