POCAHONTAS — Members of St. Paul Church’s confirmation class were given a rare treat Dec. 10 as Father David Jacobs, pastor emeritus, made his way to the choir loft at the close of the service to perform a musical medley on the newly installed Wicks pipe organ.
The 60-rank organ, with more than 1,000 pipes, was a project Father Jacobs put in motion seven years ago and four years after the 56-year-old priest was diagnosed with inoperative colon cancer.
During an interview the following afternoon, Father Jacobs elected not to take any credit for designing the organ, saying it was the product of the Capra Organ Company in Memphis.
He described his role as one of a consultant, eliminating the necessity of hiring an outside professional for the project.
“Mr. Capra and I went through everything together,” Father Jacobs said. “But I primarily assisted in putting the colors. Mr. Capra did a very good job. There are a few things, some rough edges that have to be worked out. I’m very proud for St. Paul. We have three very accomplished musicians (Deacon George Edwards, Millie Thielemier and Janet Holt) who now are able to reveal just how talented they are.”
Father Jacobs said the new organ allows the organists “so many combinations of colors and variations” that enhance and “shade the liturgy.” He added that the “complete organ” will now allow the parish to host recitals. Edwards said a dedication recital is tentatively planned for February.
Described by Father Jacobs as being “one of the largest in the state,” the instrument was created from five organs: a used Wicks organ and three manual organs that “were combined with the one” at St. Paul Church to create a truly unique state-of-the-art instrument.
“We had all the resources to have a complete organ,” Father Jacobs said. “They took those resources and updated the console to the latest technology and created one of the most complete organs I’ve had the pleasure to play.”
Father Jacobs first began playing the organ while in high school, and during his college days he became “very familiar” with organ construction as well as playing the instrument.
“I first started playing the organ as a sophomore,” Father Jacobs said. “I had several years of bad piano practices behind me. My hand position was all wrong for the piano. I’d chord with my left hand and play the music with my right. Needless to say, I wasn’t a very accomplished pianist.”
On Dec. 15, four days after playing his medley on the organ he helped create, Father Jacobs underwent testing that revealed the cancer had again metastasized, now requiring surgery (his first) to help reduce pain as well as improve his overall quality of health.
“When I was first diagnosed I was told that if I had no form of treatment I wouldn’t last three months and with treatments, they gave me six months,” Father Jacobs said. “Last month was my third anniversary. It appears I have a very strong heart and, even though the cancer has been in my liver since I was first diagnosed, all the blood work in my liver has come back normal. I guess the cancer has been located in an area that doesn’t interfere with the liver’s function.”
Father Jacobs, a Malvern native, grew up in the United Methodist Church where he “played the organ every Sunday.” While studying theology at Hendrix College in the 1960s, he converted to Catholicism.
He became the pastor of St. Paul, a church he later dubbed the “Basilica of northeast Arkansas,” in 1998. Three years later St. John the Baptist Church in Engelberg was added to his responsibilities.
A few months after being diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2002 he was named pastor emeritus in order to move to Little Rock where he has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments for the past three years.
During his tenure he added a Life Teen Mass, which he continued throughout his illness until Dec. 18, when he called and canceled the Mass because he was unable to make the drive from Little Rock.
