Multiple Builders
2025

Updated through online information from Ian Mason [February 19, 2026]: The celluloid nameplates used by Edward Lye & Sons in Toronto were manufactured by the Whitehead & Hoag Co. of Newark, NJ. See: https://www.tedhake.com/viewuserdefinedpage.aspx?pn=whco and https://newarksattic.blog/2015/08/26/the-whitehead-and-hoag-company-1892-1959/ .

Updated by Ian Mason through forwarded notes from Ron Dossenbach [February 19, 2026]: "The organ was installed in Dorchester Presbyterian Church, Dorchester, ON. in 1930. It has a tracker action and had tubular pneumatic action to an 11-note facade chest as well as the Pedal chest and two small offset Swell Stopped Diapason chests."

"The offset chests were replaced with E-P chests in the 1990s by Blair Batty who also electrified the Bourdon chest."

"The organ was renovated throughout 2025. It was re-located in November, 2025 to its present location by Ron Dossenbach and Donald Pole of Chatham (former owner of Pole & Kingham Pipe Organs of Chatham, ON)."

"The original contract specified a 27-note Bourdon but only a 20-note Bourdon chest and 20 pipes were installed. Dossenbach and Pole added 7, 1930's-era pipes on an offset chest to return the organ to the original specification."

Post by Ian Mason on the Presbyterian Church Heritage Center Facebook page [November 6, 2025]: The pipe organ of the former Dorchester Presbyterian Church (1855-2024) (Dorchester, ON) was acquired in January, 2025 from the church's new owner, namely, St. Thomas Malankara Catholic Church (one of only 5 Malankara Catholic Churches in Canada).

The organ has been completely restored thanks to retired organbuilder Don Pole of Chatham, ON and Ron Dossenbach of Windsor, ON.

The organ will be loaded into the truck tomorrow Friday, November 7 and will be delivered and unloaded at the Heritage Centre on Saturday, November 8. Within 7-10 days, the organ will be installed, voiced and fully functional.

It is a 1930 Edward Lye & Sons (Toronto) tracker organ, one of the last 8 instruments produced by this company until the Lye grandsons took over, re-organized the company and re-named it simply the Lye Organ Co.

Our instrument is a 2-manual, 8-rank organ, the tone of which should easily bloom in the 17-foot high ceilings of the Heritage Centre.

Although it will be located at the back of the Heritage Centre, it should fit into the corner, much as it did in Dorchester Presbyterian Church from 1930 until 2024.

This entry represents the installation of a used instrument. Identified through online information from Ian Mason [December 4, 2025]: This tracker organ was saved by the Presbyterian Church Heritage Centre (PCHC), located in Carlisle United Church in the hamlet of Carlisle, ON (Municipality of North Middlesex). The organ was removed from the former Dorchester Presbyterian Church, Dorchester, ON. in January, 2025. Over the next several months, the organ was restored by Ron Dossenbach of Windsor, ON, and Donald Pole of Chatham, ON. It was delivered to the PCHC on November 8, 2025. As of December 5, 2025, the organ has been completely installed. Tuning and minor repairs continue.

See: "From the Organ Advisor," in "Quarter Notes," the newsletter of the Windsor-Essex Centre of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Winter, 2025, pgs. 6-7:
https://rcco-windsor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025-11-QuarterNotes.pdf

Note: the article incorrectly identifies the year of production for this organ as 1935; it was 1930 (per the original contract).