Note from the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va., Organ Historical Society, 1991). -

With Andover Organ Co. of Methuen, Massachusetts; with Philip A. Beaudry firm of Lowell, Massachusetts; briefly with Berkshire Organ Co. of West Springfield, Massachusetts; established Stuart Organ Co. of Springfield, Massachusetts, c. 1972; relocated firm to Aldenville, Massachusetts; relocated firm to Chicopee, Massachusetts; closed firm c. 1984.

Sources:

• Letter to David H. Fox.


• Uwe Pape, The Tracker Organ Revival in America, (Berlin: Pape Verlag, 1978), 62.


• John Panning.


• Elizabeth Towne Schmitt.

Obituary:

Richard S. Hedgebeth, 75, passed away on November 3, 2019 after a brief illness. The son of a United Church of Christ pastor, he was born in Avon, Florida, and grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota and Medfield, Massachusetts. He attended Elon College (North Carolina) as a physics major before transferring to the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston) as an organ performance major. During his college years he apprenticed with and worked for several pipe organ builders before founding his own companies, the Stuart Organ Company and Westminster Organ Works. He took up residence in Binghamton in 2008, servicing numerous local church organs as well as the theater organ in the Broome County Forum. A highly respected musician and organ technician, he serviced, built and restored hundreds of pipe organs throughout the northeast and as far away as San Diego and Manitoba, Canada. He was an active member of the Binghamton Theater Organ Society, The Organ Historical Society and the Binghamton Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, serving both as Sub-Dean and webmaster. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2020, 2 pm at Main Street Baptist Church, 117 Main Street, Binghamton.

Published in Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin from January 3 to January 12, 2020.

Source:

• Contributed by Stephan Drexler, March 13, 2020.