Pipe Organ Database

Updated by William M. Worden

Updated by William M. Worden, who has heard or played the organ. William M. Worden also listed this individual as a source of information: John Lauter.
There is considerable confusion about Wurlitzers at Gesu, Detroit. The 21-rank instrument installed in the church when the building was new in 1937 did not go to Calvary Baptist in 1974. It was much altered in an oil-and-water attempt to add upperwork by Hebert and was removed from Gesu Church within the last three years or so and replaced with an electronic. The remaining Wurlitzer ranks are said to be stored by local organ technician Rick Helderop. There was another, smaller, organ in the basement chapel in the school at Gesu, which I remember from the early 1950s. This might be the 11-rank Wurlitzer that comes up in these database entries and might have gone to Calvary. John Lauter, a Detroit theater organist and expert, however, says that the instrument at Calvary Baptist came from a Heinz mansion in Pennsylvania.

Wurlitzer "Style 75 Sp" for Wurlitzer Store, Chicago
Factory date: May 8, 1930
Sold to Gesu Parish Chapel, Detoit, Michigan (May 9, 1936)
Sold to Calvary Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan (1974)