‘There are only about 10 or 12 in the country’

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Pfieffer, a Kettering resident, grew up in Franklin and attended the church when it was located there; she started playing the church’s organ when she was 13. “This organ’s special, a rare relic,” she says. “We’ve grown up together.”

At 79, Pfieffer doesn’t remember ever not playing piano or organ. “I started playing by ear when I was 5, at 9 I started taking lessons, and when the church wanted to add a second service I started playing organ at the church, and played all through high school.”

After high school, she was offered a music scholarship, but turned it down because “I wanted to be a nurse and save lives.” She left Franklin, went to nursing school and followed that path as a career, although she continued to play piano and organ for various groups and events in and around Dayton.

She also plays piano for the Kettering Band, and clarinet with UD’s New Horizon Concert Band. But she’s most comfortable at the 1890 organ, to which she returned as interim church organist 38 years ago and stayed.

“The organ’s rich, full sound and capability are unbelievable,” she says. “It’s a tracker pneumatic, known for being able to put out a huge sound, although it’s not a big organ. There are only about 10 or 12 in the country. St James Roman Catholic Church in Chicago has one that they restored, and I was invited to the dedication. They were afraid theirs wouldn’t be loud enough, but didn’t have to worry.”

The organs in both churches survived fire — St James in 1972 and Covenant’s in 1919, when, according to Pfeiffer, “there was nothing left but the organ.”

When Covenant moved to Springboro, the organ was restored by the Toledo Pipe Organ Company. Kettering resident Pat McClelland, who’d done an apprenticeship there in organ building and tuning, was part of the moving team, and he continues to service the organ.

Pfeiffer said, “I wouldn’t let anyone else touch it.”

Dayton native McClelland, a visual artist, teaches and is gallery coordinator at Sinclair Community College, but he and his wife, Aileen, have also been tuning pianos and organs since the mid-70s.

“I have a rather full schedule and wear several hats,” he says, “but we tune about 40 organs around the area.” And, as an organ builder, he does upkeep on Covenant’s organ.

“The organ at Covenant was built by the Roosevelt Organ Company,” he says. “The Roosevelt brothers, Frank and Hilborne, were two of the premier organ builders of their time. They installed their instruments in significant venues all over the Eastern U.S., including the organ for the 1876 Centennial Exposition Hall in Philadelphia, parts of which are still making music at Christ Episcopal Church in Glendale, Ohio.” The company operated in New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia.

McClelland describes Covenant’s organ as “primarily a mechanical action instrument with some electrical controls, which was cutting edge technology when it was built. It is an easy instrument to work on, but — like many of us — has certain problems due to its age.

“I was part of the team that moved it from Toledo after a year of restoration and have been taking care of it ever since.”

How to go

What: Susan Phillips Pfieffer will perform on the 1890 Roosevelt organ at a church concert.

Where: Covenant Presbyterian Church, 415 N. Main St., Springboro

When: 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28

Cost: Free

More info: Call the church at 937-748-0272.