Marion church restoring bell, tower and stained glass windows

MARION - OraLee Grabau had always hoped to hear bells ringing from the tower at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Marion.

Grabau, a longtime member, died last July at age 105, leaving behind enough money in her will for the church to purchase an electronic carillon that can play hundreds of hymns and bell tones five times day.

The carillon already is installed at the church, 917 27th St., and soon is to have a new home in a bell tower being reconstructed as part of a $300,000 renovation project that also includes an upgrade to the stained glass windows and a refurbishing of the 407-pound, solid bronze bell that was purchased for the church in 1978 by Grabau and her husband Leonard.

'It's a symbol of our church,” said Bill O'Brien, head trustee at St. Paul's.

The tower of the church was torn down and the bell lifted out on March 10. Later, O'Brien and his wife Carmen O'Brien - who is the administrative assistant for St. Paul's - drove the bell nearly eight hours to The Verdin Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio, a 170-year-old bell and clock manufacturer that made the bell decades ago.

The bell is to be polished and examined for cracks - a process expected to take between 90 and 120 days, O'Brien said.

Morris Grabau, 82, of Marion, son of OraLee and Leonard, said his parents had a longtime dream of contributing a bell to the church.

'It was something my folks always wanted to do,” he said. 'They were very, very pleased with that.”

With this reconditioning, the children and grandchildren of the Grabaus have arranged to add a new inscription to the bell to honor the deceased couple, as well as Morris Grabau's wife and brother.

'That was great,” said Morris Grabau, who noted his oldest daughter, Beth Grabau of Adel, wrote the inscription, which reads, in part, 'May its chimes continue to praise His glory.”

The bell's new home is a 45-foot tower with openings on three sides to expose the bell inside. Work on the tower is expected to be finished by the end of April, O'Brien said.

Initial conversations for the construction project began in December after cracks were discovered in the bell tower, O'Brien said. The tower had previously been repaired for similar cracks, but the problem kept occurring.

'The bell tower would have fallen eventually,” O'Brien said.

O'Brien said the work planned for the stained glass windows, which were purchased by a former member of the church in 1972, includes a reseal on the windows and an installation of UV protective storm windows on the outside. Work is scheduled to begin the first week of August.

'I'm looking forward to seeing what it'll be like,” Morris Grabau said of the completed renovation.

As for the music of the new carillon, Morris Grabau has four simple words: 'It's a good feeling.”

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