Luke Headley stands next to what will be part of the organ console in the choir loft of St. John the Evangelist Church in Clonmel. Headley, an organ technician, is installing a pipe organ originally played in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The church’s new reredos is visible beyond Headley.

Headley is revitalizing an organ he’s installing in St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, currently under construction in Clonmel. A Schlicker organ built in 1989 for St. John’s United Church of Christ in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and purchased by the parish last year has been stored both in Wisconsin and Kansas for several years.

“The organ has 11 ranks and several ‘bells and whistles’ that some of the smaller organs don’t usually have,” he said last week as construction work on the church continued in the background. “It’s in almost like-new condition.”

A set of pipes producing the same timbre for each note is called a rank.

One challenge he and his team face is fitting the organ into an area it wasn’t originally designed for. The original casework for the organ is a light wood that doesn’t match the church’s architecture.

“We handed the design over to Karl Freund because he built the altar, the reredos, the communion rail, and other furniture in the sanctuary,” Headley said. “So Father Tatro felt it would be good to have him build the casework.”

Fr. Joseph Tatro is the pastor of St. John’s; Freund owns Freund Custom Furnishings.

Headley noted they were able to use 25 to 30 percent of the original casework surrounding the organ but had Freund build additional woodwork to match available space and existing architecture.

“He did such a nice job. We elevated the pedal towers – that have pedal pipes and bass pipes – higher to help with sight lines,” Headley said. “So when you’re looking from the floor (of the church) you can see it a little better.”

The back of the balcony opens to the church entryway so that those inside can view it from both directions, making maintenance easier due to its central location.

Bishop Carl A. Kemme is scheduled to consecrate the altar and bless this new church on Friday, June 28th. Clonmel is approximately 18 miles southwest of Wichita.