Then I left for college. Although I wanted to become an organ builder and had approached Wicks about an apprenticeship, they and my father, agreed that a college education was a good preparation. Therefore I went to the university to study engineering (officially) and music (unofficially). I never again worked on the old organ.
In college I fell in with a “bad lot” (music majors) and acquired too many degrees in composition-theory. (None were completed in engineering.) This led to a career in music that included work as a professional performer, composer, arranger, author and various academic appointments, including -shudder- administrative roles.
Many years ago a garage fire burnt the 3 manual console from our church but the pedals remained safe in the house. So did the Wicks/Kilgen console. About 20 years ago, after my father had died and my mother was moving out of the house, she asked me what to do with the organ. I destroyed the old, pathetic electronics but moved all of the console parts out to PA and put them in the attic where they sat until recently.
My father and I had started the electronic organ project because, though we both wanted a pipe organ, that didn't seem possible. Two years ago, as I started searching for current information on organs, I realized that a pipe organ in the house was possible and began my current "madness." With my recent retirement, I now have time to pursue that old project and to (finally) become...more or less...an organ builder with a III/18 materializing in the basement.
Al Blatter