Memorial Organ

Canadian Memorial Chapel was born in the hearts of private soldiers in the First World War who, guided by a sergeant, formed a working party to bury six of Canada's war dead. On a November night of 1915, in the Ypres Salient, France, one of the soldiers said to Reverend Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt.-Col.) George Fallis, CBE, ED, DD: "Padre, after the war is over some chaplain should build a memorial in Canada in memory of fellows like these who have given their all." From that moment on, he would never lay away their beloved dead without the idea of a memorial chapel in his mind.

The organ was being constructed by Casavant Freres of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec and was not intended to be a special memorial. Lt.-Col. Fallis was invited to address several Rotary Clubs in Oregon, where Senator R.A. Booth was district governor. At the senator’s home, Lt.-Col. Fallis told his family the story of Canadian Memorial Chapel, which was to be dedicated on Remembrance Day, 1928.

The next morning at breakfast, Senator Booth said that he and his wife were amazed to hear that some fifteen hundred Americans were killed while serving with the Canadian army. He suggested, in the interest of international good will, that he should start a movement to have the organ erected in memory of those citizens of the United States of America who had crossed the border, joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and had given their lives. He went on to say that if this appealed to the Trustees of Canadian Memorial Chapel, he would start the fund by subscribing five thousand dollars. The organ was costing thirty thousand. Senator Booth worked faithfully towards funds for the organ, as did many of his friends in Portland, Seattle, Eugene, Tacoma, and other Pacific Coast cities.

The Reverend Captain R. J. Edmison of South Orange, New Jersey, gained loyal support from interested citizens of the United States on the Atlantic Coast. He had been a beloved Padre overseas and was minister of First Presbyterian Church.

Each Sunday morning a dear old member of Lt.-Col. Fallis’ church, Mrs. William Alcorn, would pause at the church door to say she was praying daily to God that he would be given the physical strength to carry on his heavy task. One Sunday she handed him a letter in which she wrote that while she was saying her daily prayer for him, God revealed to her that Lt.-Col. Fallis was to write John D. Rockefeller Jr. and ask him for a subscription toward the Memorial Organ. He accepted the letter as a notion of a very old lady. Sunday after Sunday, she would ask if he had written Mr. Rockefeller. One day she handed him a second letter and it was a rebuke at his lack of faith. She said every time she prayed for him, God would reveal to her that he should write. To please the dear lady, Lt.-Col. Fallis wrote, never dreaming that he would get a reply in which Mr. Rockefeller sent twenty-five hundred dollars.

The Memorial Organ was dedicated on November 18, 1928, by Senator Booth. It was followed by an organ recital by Mrs. Montgomery Lynch of the Music Faculty of the University of Washington in Seattle. Her program was from composers of nine nations, symbolizing the international character of this organ.

In April 1960, the organ was reconstructed and rededicated in memory of those who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars. In 1971, it was rebuilt and rededicated in memory of all members of the Armed Forces who lost their lives in the service of their country.

[Memorial Organ/Orgue du Souvenir]

THIS ORGAN WAS REBUILT AND REDEDICATED IN 1971 IN MEMORY OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY.

[Memorial Organ pipes right side/côté droit des tuyaux de l’orgue du Souvenir]

(plaque)
THIS ORGAN IS IN MEMORY OF THOSE CITIZENS OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHO VOLUNTARILY CROSSED
THE BORDER AND JOINED THE CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY
FORCES AND GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WORLD WAR
INSTALLED BY THE HON. R.A. BOOTH AND OTHER AMERICAN CITIZENS

(plaque)
THIS ORGAN WAS RECONSTRUCTED AND
REDEDICATED IN APRIL 1960
IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR
LIVES IN THE WARS OF
1914 - 1918      1939 - 1945

(framed print/reproduction encadrée) 
The Organ in this Church
is in memory of those gallant citizens
of the United States of America,
who voluntarily came over the border, joined the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, and gave
their lives on the altar of liberty in the World War, 1914-1918.

It is designed that this organ, presented by citizens of the United States to this
Church which is a Memorial to Canada's glorious dead, will tangibly illustrate that friendship and
neighbourliness which have existed between Canada and the United States for over a century.

Donors:

• EUGENE: OREGON.
• Hon. R.A. Booth.
• PORTLAND: OREGON.
• Frank C. Riggs.
• William Whitfield.
• Alex S. Pattullo.
• Orin B. Coldwell.
• Alex. C. Rae.
• Dr. H.B. Hall.
• Ben Selling.
• E.H. Wyld.
• Lawrence C. Dewlands.
• Gwilym Jones.
• P. Chappell Browne.
• J.C. English.
• Phil Grossmayer.
• J.C. Hinsworth.
• Nelson G. Pike.
• E.P. Armstrong.
• Thomas. J. Armstrong.
• William Munsell.
• Alex M. Clark.
• John O.
• Fred. J. Staver.
• W.H. Rae.
• W.H. Montgomery.
• J.K. Gill.
• Elliott R. Corbett.
• T.D. Honeyman.
• L.W. Cutler.
• Ed. G. Titus.
• Jack L. Wright.
• C.H. Morden.
• Phil Jackson.
• S.J.H. French.
• William Boyd.
• Sidney C. Rasnnisseu.
• E.S. Collins.
• Frank H. Ransom.
• George A. Braley.
• Mrs. W. N. Youngson.
• J.T. Wilson.
• George M. Cormoall.
• M. Smith.
• R.U. Glisan.
• R.J. Brix.
• R.J. Paterson.
• Robert A. Sprouse.
• Eric V. Hansen.
• Dr. J.H. Dickson.
• Julius Meier.
• James B. Kerr.
• Amery Olmstead.
• Guy W. Talbot.
• Andrew R. Porier.
• A.M. Wright.
• S.P. Lockwood.
• J.J. Ross.
• SEATTLE: WASHINGTON.
• A.S. Eldridge.
• Mrs. A.A. Eldridge.
• J.P. Douglas.
• Horace C. Henry.
• J.D. Lowman.
• Hubbard F. Alexander.
• A.B. Stewart.
• B.A. Garber.
• Thomas D. Stimson.
• Mrs. Eupheunia R. Fisher.
• Will P. Fisher.
• O.D. Fisher.
• Fred Everett.
• Captain W.O. Mckay.
• H.J. Jrrard.
• L.G. Pattullo.
• Otto R. Rabel.
• John T. Lund.
• Claude A. Eleilbrick.
• John W. Eddy.
• W.W. Moulton.
• W. J. Norton.
• Alexander Baillie.
• R.D. Merrill.
• Victor H. Effeuddahl.
• Edward. W. Campbell.
• W.W. Kent.
• William L. Rhodes.
• H. Manning.
• J. Wilson.
• John L. Heffernan.
• James R. Stirrat.
• A. McEwass.
• Adolph H. Luiden.
• R. Smith.
• Gilbert M. Butterworth.
• John C. Eden.
• Harry G. Brace.
• D.E. Skinner.
• Worrall Wilson.
• F.J. Martin.
• Mrs H.S. Kerry.
• Miss Glen Kerry.
• Miss Olive Kerry.
• James W. Spaugler.
• Joshua Green.
• P.W. Hull.
• Mrs Montgomery Lynch.
• Mrs. John McIver.
• C.C. Carpenter.
• W.T. Douglas.
• C.A. Stewart.
• A.S. Elford.
• Mrs Maria T. Elford.
• TACOMA: WASHINGTON.
• Henry A. Rhodes.
• Samuel Jackson.
• Dr. E.A. Rich.
• P.T. Beers.
• Samuel Perkins.
• A.P. Hickie,
• James McCormack.
• William B. Bust.
• Art. Wiickens.
• George Doug.
• W.L. McCormack.
• W.P. Hopping.
• W.D. Hopping.
• Major C.G. Griggs.
• L. Howarth.
• Will Killworth.
• James A. Eves.
• CENTRALIA: WASHINGTON.
• Rocarians.
• RAYMOND: WASHINGTON.
• Rocarians.
• HOQUIAM: WASHINGTON.
• Frank Lamb.
• EVERETT: WASHINGTON.
• William C. Butler.
• A.H.B. Jordan.
• W.L. Winter.
• W. Howorth.
• Clayton Williams.
• E.M. Metzger.
• Dr. H.P. Howard.
• MOUNT VERNON: WASHINGTON.
• Charles E. Gackes.
• BEELINGHAM: WASHINGTON.
• R.A. Welsh.
• E.W. Purdy.
• E.B. Dewing.
• A. Paige.
• C. Morse.
• J. Loggie.
• Dan Campbell.
• Mrs. C.X. Larrabee.
• Norwal College.
• PUYALLUP: WASHINGTON.
• Charles Hood.
• Mrs Charles Hood.
• SOUTH ORANGE: NEW JERSEY.
• G.W. Doane.
• E.P. Balch.
• A.G. Borden.
• C.C. Baldwin.
• Mrs. Herman Helms.
• Mayor George Becker.
• Fred Audrey.
• Jroing Sickley.
• O.D. Sickley.
• Raymond Connolly.
• Willard B. Halsey.
• Charles R. Piper.
• George Garrabant.
• Robert Morrison.
• G.D. Hofe.
• NEWARK: NEW JERSEY.
• Thomas E. Fitzsimmons.
• MAPLEWOOD: NEW JERSEY.
• Richard H. Davis.
• NEW YORK.
• John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
• J. Elliott Hall.
• D.W. Fraser.
• K.K. McLaren.
• W. Stephenson.
• Mrs. W.W. Ferris.
• R. Rae.

RIGHTEOUSNESS.
LIBERTY
PEACE.

Lord God of hosts be with us yet, lest we forget, - lest we forget!

J.WILLIAMS OGDEN

[Memorial Organ pipes left side/côté gauche des tuyaux de l’orgue du Souvenir]

Make a joyful noise onto the Lord all ye
Lands serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before his presence with singing.