Hope for return of carillon music still persists

Silent and little known in the Cathedral South Bell Tower is a historic musical treasure:  The Dougherty Memorial Carillon.

Stretching from the ceiling to the floor in a room directly below the tower roof, the carillon was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Dougherty of Beeville in memory of their eldest son, Lt. James R. Dougherty, Jr., who was killed Oct. 7, 1944 in Germany during World War II. 

A carillon is a system of harmonically tuned tubular bells played by activating a striker. Including a carillon in the Cathedral was long a dream of Bishop E. B. Ledvina, under whose time the Cathedral was built.  In 1939, Bishop Ledvina wrote, “nothing would please me more than to live out my days listening to chimes pealing forth from the tower of the new Cathedral.”

It was the Dougherty’s profound grief over the loss of their son that made that the dream a reality.  The carillon was dedicated in 1946 on the 25th anniversary of Bishop Ledvina’s consecration as bishop.

The Dougherty Carillon consists of 32 bells, and is believed to be one of the finest carillons produced by the J. C. Deagan Co. of Chicago, one of the foremost American manufacturers of chimes, bells and organ equipment.

The Carillion is controlled electronically by a console, or played by hand inside. It is capable of playing any number of musical selections, including hymns, such as Gounod’s’ Ave Maria, or patriotic and classical pieces.

Through the late 1940s and the 1950s the Cathedral’s 32 bells rang out hymns of adoration to God twice daily. The ringing was familiar to local residents who often complimented Bishop Ledvina on its beauty.

In 1977, the Dougherty Carillon was converted to a modern “solid state” system with new strikers and dampers.  While Bishop Ledvina realized his dreams of spending his final days listening to chimes, at some point the new system became unreliable.

In 1986, a parish newsletter noted that the Cathedral Chimes had been out of order for eight or nine years.  Maintenance of the Carillon was virtually nil.  Deagan was out of business and no serviceman could be found to repair it.

The same newsletter began a campaign to “save the carillon,” and soon the James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation and the Harkins Foundation donated money to restore it. 

Unfortunately, problems arose again and the chimes fell silent sometime around 2005.  The restoration repairs ran into problems due to the environment and corrosive salt air, which destroyed parts of the instrument. 

Bill Pugh, president of Top Rung Tower chime and Organ Service of Manhattan, Kansas said that this problem can remedied with use of stainless steel to repair iron parts and use of other coatings to replace the last ones used which have failed.
“Especially because of the harsh salt environment, the chime equipment must have regular maintenance,” he said.

New technology has been very helpful in the restoration of these pieces.
Pugh is familiar with the Cathedral Carillon and has worked on it. He comes to Texas to service other Deagan chimes. He feels the problems can be remedied and the chimes can be made to ring once more.