Notes from the past

Reflecting on his past years at St. Paul’s,which was marked by a special service on July 1,George says he still remembers his first day at the church’s grandiose organ. “I got scared sitting at the organ,my father was standing there watching. My right and left feet were shaking throughout the first hymn,” he says. Yet,the opening line of that very first hymn,“every morning is the love,our wakening and uprising prove,” has become his mantra over the years,as he has religiously risen from bed and taken straight to the organ every Sunday at 8 am. “Being an organist has become an inseparable part of my life. An organist is a person who is chained to the church without a chain. I have to be at the 8 am service. It’s not a job you can call in sick to,” he says.

A retired air force radio technician,George has been attending St. Paul’s church since 1954,when he was just 12 years old. That same year he also began taking piano lessons,at the suggestion of his musically oriented family. “My father was a violinist and some of my cousins are organists in different parishes. I also sing bass. So because of all of those things I have always felt God in music,” he says.

Despite his family’s urging and his experience of playing hymns from a young age,George says he was apprehensive to become the church’s organist on July 1,1962 due to his nervousness. However,it did not take him long to develop a love for the organ,for playing with the choir,and for God. “My faith in God has become stronger from playing,” George says.

Despite spending so many years playing the organ,George does not have plans to retire in the near future. “It is all in God’s hands,I will be here however long God wants me to be here,” he says. Rather than plan his retirement from the organ,George has shifted his focus towards inspiring a younger generation of pianists and organists,including his 11-year-old grandson. “He’s hasn’t taken any piano exams yet,but he is already very good at sight-reading. I have influenced him to pursue the piano,” George says. It is not only George’s immediate family who have benefited from his many years at the organ but also an entire congregation,floaters and devoted followers alike,who will have the opportunity to hear the sweet sounds of George’s organ for years to come. “I’m serving the lot. My talents have been given by God and I’m giving back to God and his followers,” he says.