The Schuelke organ was rebuilt in 1940 by the Wicks Organ Company of Highland, Illinois, as its opus 2147, also of two manuals. Correspondence in the Wicks files indicates that competition for the contract was with Henry Pilcher's Sons of Louisville, Kentucky. When the pastor, the Reverend Ephrem Muench, met with Bishop Joseph E. Ritter to seek his permission for Wicks to do the work, Ritter insisted that Pilcher be given full consideration for the job. (Pilcher had finished rebuilding the Felgemaker organ in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1936, as chronicled elsewhere in this volume.) Father Ephrem stated to the ordinary that his fan1iliarity with a Wicks project at a Franciscan church in Teutopolis, Illinois (likely Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, opus 606, 1926), was sufficient evidence for him that Wicks was the proper choice for Sacred Heart.

A memorandum to C.J. Zimmermann in Highland from Wicks's Indianapolis agent H.M. Anderson, dated March 19, 1940, recounts a fascinating situation where the Franciscan pastor and the bishop struggled over authority. The bishop was accustomed to having full authority over the churches in his diocese, and the Franciscan pastor did not wish to have a local bishop command who should rebuild the organ in the church owned and staffed by his order. Of special interest: "The specifications are going to be sent to one of the Fathers at Quincy [Illinois] for approval. . . . The Bishop suggested that the specifications be submitted to the [Diocesan] Music Comn1ission, but Father Ephrem replied that the Order has some very good authorities on organ [sic] and that he would prefer to submit them to their own authorities."

The proposal from Pilcher was dated March 19. Still, Wicks won the contract for the price of $6,295.00.
-- 2007 OHS Atlas

Photographs are accessible through the entry on the 2001 rebuild.

Rebuild of 1899 Wm. Schuelke organ, re-using case and pipes, but replacing chests and console