After a few years as an apprentice in which he spent time working in all departments in the Casavant firm, Georges Santoire became a road technician who installed organs throughout Canada and the United States, and it wasn’t long before he was responsible for the installation of organs at prominent sites. In 1929, he installed an organ with 107 stops at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, which was at that time the largest organ in Canada. But the fame of that organ was surpassed only the following year, when Georges headed up the installation of the organ at Toronto’s Metropolitan Church, which had 110 stops and 5 manuals. In all, Georges Santoire took part in hundreds of organ installations throughout the United States and Canada.

Like his own father, Urgel, Georges Santoire was proud to let it be known that his son Luc was also very interested in the organ building profession. When Luc was very young, he loved nothing more than to spend his summers on the job with his father, when he would share with Luc some of the “tricks of the trade” which he had learned during his years of experience with organs. Georges Santoire wanted his son to be well-educated, so he sent him to learn the trade with other firms across the world.

After completing his advanced studies, Luc Santoire began to seriously pursue his own career in organ building. He was still quite young when he started heading up major organ installations worldwide, at such sites as Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN; First Presbyterian Church, Dayton, OH; Our Lady of the Cape in Quebec, Canada; and the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.   In 1975, Luc decided to throw himself into work which was really his first love: the restoration of old historic organs. He started his own family business which specializes in this field. The passing on of a trade and its skills and knowledge to a fourth generation was realized as Luc’s son Yves began work in organ building with his father Luc and Luc's wife Mina. Together, they have restored various historical organs in Canada and the United States, and at sites worldwide, including Bermuda and France.

At this writing, Yves Santoire continues to work in collaboration with his father, but has now also assumed leadership of the family business, taking on the more difficult and involved assignments, and those which require traveling great distances.       The years the Santoires have worked in organ installation and restoration: Urgel Santoire 1907-1938 Georges Santoire 1917-1965 Luc Santoire 1950-Present Yves Santoire 1972-Present George Santoire ????

This is George Santoire.  He is 2 years old now. Will he follow in the footsteps of the 4 generations of Santoires before him? It would seem so! Look at what he reads for fun!

Write us about our web site! nymites@videotron.ca