Biographical
Victor I. Zuck was born in Hagerstown, Maryland on January 24, 1908 to Jacob and Ora Turner Zuck. David Zuck, an uncle was an employee with M.P. Moller Company, builders of pipe organs and in the 1920s, introduced Victor to an apprenticeship with organs at Moeller. At Moller, Victor worked under Ted Clark, Raleigh Williams, and Richard Whitelegg. Zuck spent two years, 1930-1931 at the United States Military Academy where he collaborated with Frederick C. Mayers, the organist and choirmaster of the Harmonic Division. Zuck returned to the Moller Company and assumed leadership of the Automatic Player Department, supervising the rebuilding of pipe organs and hand cutting for automatic rolls.
At Moller, Zuck worked with Frederick A. Hoschke, the musical director. Hoeschke developed the Orgatron, an electrostratic reed organ in 1934. It was manufactured by Everett Piano Company from 1935 to 1941. The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company secured the patents from Everett in 1945. Wurlitzer produced these instruments and retained the Everett names on some models from 1945 to 1947. Orgatrons continued to be produced into the early 1960s. After the ORgatron was purchased by Wurlitzer, Zuck joined the Wulritzer Company and became superintendent of the organ division and a consultant in research. Zuck held 14 organ-related patents, all assigned to the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York. In 1952, Zuck resigned from Wurlitzer and returned to the Moller Company as a sales representative. In 1975, Zuck was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.
Zuck married Nathalie Peterson, grandniece of Frederick A. Hoeschke in 1937. Zuck died on January 6, 2004.
Source
Automatic Musical Instruments Collectors Association, Honor Rool (https://www.amica.org/files/VICTOR_I_ZUCK.pdf (last accessed on November 15, 2021)
