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Please join us in remembering
those who have passed away this last year.
December
22, 2007 - Rev. Ralph D. Claybaugh,
Born
in
Waukesha
on November 21, 1914, he was 93 years old at the time of his death.
The son of Robert and Marion (Holloway) Claybaugh, Ralph attended the
local high schools and then began his college education at the
Racine
Normal School
. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army and was an instructor at
West Point
, teaching cadets in the Signal Corps. In 1947 he graduated from
Wheaton
College
and continued at
Wheaton
after his military service, receiving his degree in theology.
Pastor Claybaugh was ordained on September 26, 1952 as a Pastor in the
Congregational Christian Churches, and served as pastor for the Hope
Congregational Church in
Superior
. In his first year in the congregation, the church had 49 members, with
an annual budget of $4292 and benevolences of $97.
Continuing his ministry in
Wisconsin
, Ralph Claybaugh served as pastor in Owen, Nekoosa, and the Elcho/ Kempster
yoked parish. He retired in 1980.
October
16, 2007 - Rev. Erwin H. Pegel,
Rev.
Erwin H. Pegel, born
in Germany
in 1930, Pastor Pegel received his early education at the Oberschule fuer
Jungens in
Bad Salzuflen. He then attended Berufsschule (Vocational School) and the Seminary of
Missiology and Theology in Bad Liebenzell,
Germany. Additional studies were at the Nyac Missionary Training Institute,
New York, and the University
of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He also received a certificate from the Translaters’ Institute of the
American Bible Society at
Ponape,
Micronesia.
Erwin served as a missionary field representative and Junior High
Administrator on the Island
of
Truk,
Micronesia
from 1955 to 1968. From 1969 to 1972 he served the Ladeskirchliche
Gemeinschaft at Guetersloh and the Gemeinschaftsbezirk in
Bielefeld,
Germany. Immigrating to the
United States
in 1972, Erwin served as pastor of the Waterford Federated Parish (UCC/UMC) in Waterford,
Maine. From 1975 to 1985 he was the Senior Pastor of the Grandville-Jenison
Congregational United Church of Christ, Grandville,
MI. He was Pastor in Monticello
from 1985 to 1995, and in his retirement he served.
September
10, 2007 - Rev. Marlea Waber,
Rev.
Marlea Waber, Associate Pastor
of Swiss United Church of Christ in New Glarus, died on Monday, September 10,
after more than a year of battling cancer. Born June 28, 1942, Marlea was
65 at the time of her death. Marlea Waber began to experience her call to
ministry while an active member of the Lyonsville Congregational United Church
of Christ. Her pastor there was the Rev. Tom Nielsen. Her
undergraduate education included attending
Blackburn
College
in
Carlinville
,
Illinois
; the
University
of
Illinois
at Champaign/Urbana, and the
University
of
Minnesota
. She is a graduate of the Chicago Theological Seminary with a Masters of
Divinity, awarded June 4, 1994. She was invited to become the Associate
Pastor of the Swiss United Church of Christ, New Glarus, in 1990, she
transferred her preparation for ordination to the Southwest Association of the
Wisconsin Conference. She was ordained and installed as Associate Pastor
at Swiss church on October 22, 1995.
August
19, 2007 - Rev. Frederick Bretsch,
Rev.
Frederick Bretsch,
passed away at age of 71 years.
He was born December 21, 1935, in Milwaukee to the late Elmer and Paula (nee
Grob) Bretsch. He was united in marriage to Karel Ketterer on December 20,1958,
in Milwaukee. Fred graduated from Mission House College (now Lakeland College)
and Mission House Seminary (now United Seminary). He served United Church of
Christ congregations in North Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, and was
pastor for 19 years at the former Mount Tabor United Church of Christ in
Milwaukee before his retirement in 1998.
August
10, 2007 - Rev. Robert "R.C. Hagen,
Rev.
Robert “R.C.”
Hagen
was killed on August 10, in a
traffic accident near
Johannesburg,
South Africa. At the time of his death, R.C. was living in
Berlin, Germany. He was a pastor in standing in the Southwest Association of our
Wisconsin Conference. Born on December 23, 1963, he was 43 years old.
A graduate of the
University
of
Wisconsin,
Madison
with a BA in International Relations (1986), he went on to study at the Goethe
Institute at Schwaebisch Hall and then continued graduate education at Luther
Northwestern Theological Seminary in
St. Paul,
MN
where he received the M.Div. degree in 1990. He served as vicar at
Resurrection
Lutheran
Church, Buffalo, NY
and then was pastor of Staples and Aldrich Congregational Churches, United
Church of Christ, in Staples and
Aldrich, MN. In November of 1994 he was called to serve the
Washington
Reformation Church, UCC, in Monticello, WI. Later he served as interim pastor at Hope United Church of Christ,
Sturgeon Bay.
March
17, 2007 - Rev. Donald Frederick Lehman,
Rev.
Don Lehman
attended the University
of
Dubuque
and graduated from
Lakeland College
(B.A. 1950) and the Mission House Seminary (B.D. 1953). Ordained in 1953
in the Evangelical and Reformed Church, he served churches in
Maquoketa,
IA,
Paducah, KY, and
Indianapolis
before coming to
Milwaukee. During his long service in the Wisconsin Conference, Don was very active
in Association and Conference programs. Many people knew Don as the
assistant secretary for many Conference Annual Meetings, as he served with his
good friend, the late Bob Johnston, in recording the proceedings of many of the
meetings at
Lawrence University
in
Appleton. He was also active and deeply supportive of the camping and outdoor
ministry program.
January
11, 2007 the Rev. Dr. Reinhard Ulrich
Professor
Reinhard Ulrich,
beloved and iconic figure in the life and history of
Lakeland
and servant of the church in its educational mission, was, at the time of his
death, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of the
Mission
House
Center
on the Lakeland Campus. Born in
Kassel,
Germany, Professor Ulrich arrived in
Sheboygan
in 1948 to complete his college studies at Mission
House College
. He remained and attended Mission House Seminary and then moved to
Chicago
for Ph.D. work and to serve as Pastor of Eden Evangelical and Reformed Church.
He then returned to Lakeland to assume his place on the faculty, eventually also serving as Dean.
Reinhard Ulrich served as editor of Volume 1 of The Living Theological
Heritage of the United Church of Christ: “Ancient and Medieval
Legacies”. Throughout his entire career Dr. Ulrich was a servant of the
church, both the UCC and the ecumenical church. He led trips to
Germany, spoke at events and seminars, preached and served
pastoral assignments in congregations and faithfully worked to strengthen the
connection of the college and its educational mission to its historic and
spiritual roots. Most of all he influenced generations of students who
loved him and who were led to vocations in church and society that embodied the
best of the heritage of the Reformed tradition.
January
8, 2007 the Rev. Louis C. Riesch
Rev.
Louis Riesch
was the founder of Cedar Lake Home in 1958, overseeing its growth
into one of
Wisconsin
’s largest care facilities. He was an extraordinary and visionary leader
whose gifts placed what we now know as the Cedar Community in the forefront as a
national leader in the care for elderly. Cedar Community was one of
the first to work with memory loss persons, and in 1976 it opened Friendship
House, the country’s first nursing home dedicated to the care of patients with
Alzheimer's
and related dementia. In the care of the elderly, he was a man far ahead
of his time, with a vision and a deep faith that allowed him to trust that
visions could become reality through the grace of God. One of Rev.
Riesch’s passions, outside of his work, was his love of horses. He
raised Saddle bred horses and taught riding lessons on his property. Of
interest here in our Conference office is that our receptionist,
Heidi Andrews
, took riding lessons from Rev. Riesch while she was in college. Louis
Riesch retired from Cedar Community in 1991. He was 81 at the time of his
death.
November 1, 2006 - Reverend Harriett Nicol Martin
Reverend
Harriett Nicol Martin was called to eternal
life on November 1, 2006 in
West Bend
. Born in
Milwaukee
in 1923, Rev. Martin graduated from
Northwestern
University
and taught kindergarten and special needs children for many years. At age 50,
she entered Bethany Theological Seminary and graduated in 1977. She served as a
UCC
pastor
in
Elmhurst
,
Illinois
from 1978-2000. Upon her move to the
West Bend
area, she became a member of Peace UCC, Kewaskum. Rev. Martin and her husband,
Floyd, raised four children, including their son, the Rev. James Martin of Saron
UCC,
Sheboygan
Falls.
November
1, 2006 - Reverend Richard Frasier
Reverend
Richard E. Frasier of Lake
Mills, passed away on November 1, 2006. He was 72 years old. Originally from
Chicago, Rev. Frasier served in the U.S. Army from 1955-1957. He later graduated from
North Central
College, Naperville, Illinois and then Yale Divinity School,
New Haven, CT. Rev. Frasier was ordained in 1967 at First Congregational UCC, Lake
Mills
where he served as pastor for the next 33 years. Upon retirement, he was the
interim pastor at Congregational UCC, Evansville
for two years. Rev. Frasier was
currently a member of First UCC, Reeseville.
October 31, 2006 -
Mrs. Lois White
Mrs.
Lois White, 82, of Eau Claire, died October 31, 2006.
An
Eau Claire
native, she worked as a secretary for much of her life including serving First
Congregational UCC,
Eau Claire.
September 18, 2006 - Mrs. Ella
Jeanne Hammen
Mrs.
Ella Jeanne Hammen of West Bend, passed away on September 18, 2006 at the age of 86. Born in Antigo, she
married the Rev. Clarence Hammen, who served at Peace UCC, Kewaskum, from
1957-1964. When he retired, they moved to Waubeka and Rev. Hammen pastored
St. Paul
’s
Community Church
from 1970-1972. Upon her
husband’s death in 1978. Ella Jeanne moved to
West Bend
where she was a member of Immanuel UCC.
September 12, 2006 - Reverend Walter H.
Waeckerle
Reverend
Walter H. Waeckerle died September 12, 2006 at
the age of 88 in Rhinelander. Originally from
St. Louis,
Missouri, he was a graduate of Mission
House
College, Mission House Seminary and United Theological Seminary. Throughout his career,
Rev. Waeckerle served
Wisconsin
congregations of both the Evangelical & Reformed Church and the UCC.
Churches he served include: the Browntown, Peace and South Wayne,
St. Paul
’s parish;
Trinity
Church,
Brookfield
; Peace
Church
, Shawano; Somers UCC; St. Paul’s, Malone; and the Stockbridge UMC, from which
he retired in 1985. In his retirement, Rev. Waeckerle served as interim pastor
at Hope UCC, Fremont; Bethany UCC, Oshkosh
; and
St. Paul
’s UCC, Oshkosh. He was also an active supporter of the Wisconsin Conference camping program.
July 24, 2006 - Reverend
Milton J. Kading
Reverend
Milton J. Kading of Beaver Dam was called to
eternal life on July 24, 2006. Rev. Kading was born in 1916 in
Lowell
Township. He farmed for 22 years before entering Lakeland
College
at age 38. He graduated from Mission House Seminary in 1959 and went on to
serve churches in rural
Elkhart Lake
,
Illinois, and
Iowa
. He was a member of First Evangelical & Reformed UCC, Lowell.
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