2004-10-30/2019-12-10 - From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). — Organist; with H. R. Wilson of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1927-1932; representative of Pilcher firm of Louisville, Kentucky in Ohio, 1939-1941; with Pilcher firm in Louisville, Kentucky, 1941, factory superintendent, designer. Sources: The Diapason: October 1941, 11. Robert F. Crone, Letter to the Editor, The Tracker: 19:4, (1975), 20.
2019-12-11/2019-12-11 - From Organ Database Builders editor Stephen Hall, December 10, 2019. — Excerpts from Robert Crone's Letter to the Editor: Mr. Gerard Pilcher died during Christmas week in 1940, and I was called upon to move to Louisville from Cincinnati to take over the factory superintendancy and design work. I had, since 1927, worked for Mr. Harold Wilson (a maintenance man originally with Felgemaker) on Pilcher, Koehnken & Grimm (trackers), Austin, E. M. Skinner and Casavant, doing some erection work and a number of rebuilds plus maintenance in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and through central Ohio. I did this to 1932, while attending Cincinnati Conservatory (organ major under Parvin Titus). I was Titus' assistant at Christ Church 1928-1932, then organist of St. John's, Roanoke, Va. (1932), St. Paul's Cathedral (1933-1937) where I played a Hook and Hastings built in 1908 (slider chests but electric key action). From 1937 to 1939 I was musical secretary to John Hausserman who loaned the Aeolian-Skinner to the Temple of Religion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Coming to Louisville with the Pilcher Company in January 1941, I seemed to fit in very well with my experience in both building and playing. From March 1939 I had taken care of Pilcher organs and had represented them in Ohio after an interview with Bill and Gerard Pilcher. I had been to the Louisville factory and had met the key men. Things progressed nicely through 1939-1941. Pilcher had rather good business in new and rebuilt organs. (But I could not "sell" Bill Pilcher on classic tonal design nor tracker action!) Then came the war. The day before Pearl Harbor, I had ordered cast up about 3000 lbs. of spotted pipe metal. This was shortly "frozen" and copper wire for cable shortly made unavailable. We were able to finish work in process and do a limited amount of rebuilding with available material. Of course, we lost some male employees to the draft, and some girls to higher paying "war" jobs. By late 1942 we were forced to other lines-refrigerator wood frames, some furniture for an Indianapolis firm, and wood/fibreboard duct work for the Curtiss-Wright wooden cargo planes. This did not seem to help the financial situation. Finally, in February 1944, I left to take work at American Air Filter Co.; they used centrifugal blowers and duct work which I could design and figure. Joining me there was Thomas Byers (later going to Chester Raymond in 1949 and then had his own company, Andover Organs; he returned to Air Filter in late 1950s, then again back to New England, and now associated with Fisk. Also going to A.A.F. Co. was Jack Carr, a Pilcher draftsman and stores keeper, and Charles Dietz, console action man. The latter two stayed with me at A. A.F. until I retired in 1970 as Plant Engineer. After leaving Pilcher, I was employed off and on as consultant on rebuilds around Louisville-mostly Pilcher organs. On these, while organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew's here, I worked closely on organ affairs with Mr. [Sylvester] Kohler, who got most of the local contracts, and Mr. Adolph Fressmegger, former erection room foreman and his assistant, Mr. Will Guenther. They had most of the Moller service. Mr. Kohler mentioned the Aeolian-Skinner I was able to get for St. Andrew's here from Mr. Haussermann. It is still a fine instrument and quite classic in tonal design. While Parvin Titus was consultant, both I and Walter Holtkamp had offered tonal suggestions in 1939 which Titus and Don Harrison accepted. For the past 7 years I have been organist-choirmaster of Our Mother of Sorrows (R.C.) Church which has a Wicks organ, not large, but not bad tonally (1958). I had to resign from that job due to a fractured hip. I shall probably not be able to play publicly again. I still do consultant organ work, teach and write church music. Source: Robert F. Crone, Letter to the Editor, The Tracker: 19:4, (1975), 20.
Regrettably, it is not possible to display the information about the sponsor of this pipeorgandatabase entry or if there is a sponsor. Please see About Sponsors on Pipe Organ Database.