I was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I am a “third career” pastor, having entered the seminary in 1987 at the age of 43, with two prior careers.

Barbara and I were married on August 21, 1965 (I was almost 21 years old with one semester to go to complete my Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue and Barbara was 19 years old, having completed one year of college at Concordia College, Ann Arbor, Michigan). We have been married for 47 years as of August 21, 2012.

I graduated from Purdue University in January, 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. I worked in optical physics research and development from 1966 to 1974, completing a Master of Science degree in Optical Engineering from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York in 1969.

In 1974 at the age of 30 I entered my second career, starting Nord Engineering Company in Roanoke, Indiana, specializing in designing and building optical manufacturing machinery and other job-shop work. I sold that business in 1986.

I enrolled at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne in September of 1987. Attending summer classes, I completed the academic requirements for a Master of Divinity degree in two years plus one semester, graduating in November, 1990. I served my vicarage year from November, 1989 to November, 1990 at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Peru, Illinois, a newly started mission congregation that also became my first call into the ministry. My date of ordination was December 2, 1990.

In November, 1992 I was called to St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Montgomery, Illinois as the assistant pastor.

In November, 1994 I accepted a call to serve as Associate Pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne — a call I served for 16 ½ years. During that time I also completed a Master of Sacred Theology degree in missiology from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. While at St. Peter’s, I have organized and led youth trips, mission trips and other fellowship groups, written four devotional books and authored the compiled history of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. In recent years my work has focused on senior’s ministry — which I plan to continue after retirement. I retired June 1, 2011.

In October, 2009, I was diagnosed as being in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease — a new challenge God has blessed me with, that I will continue to face in my retirement years.

It has been a very good 50 years!

The Blazers
It was just before a home basketball game in the spring of 1962. The game was played at the Concordia Senior College Gym, and for many of us, school was the building at the corner of Anthony and Maumee. I was on the ROTC color guard carrying in the flags before the game that night. At just the right time I hoisted the American flag to its sheath, prepared to march onto the floor. As I hoisted the flag, the eagle on top of my flag pole speared the basketball net and became impaled for what seemed to be the longest time. Eventually I freed the flag and the ceremony continued. I don't remember if we won or lost that night. We were all cadets, happy to add our voices to cheer our team.

We celebrated after every home game with a record hop at Goegleins. The Blazers were to perform that night, so we all put on our white shirts and black blazers, gathered in the bandstand area and started our songs. I don't remember what all we sang that night, but I know it included crowd favorites like a basketball version of "Bye, Bye, Blackbird" and the ever famous, "Mr. Custer" featuring Mark Schwehn's yet-to-change tenor voice. Tom Huge hammered out the music on his guitar. Many of us also sang in the school choir, but this was more of a night to just hang out together, to sing, and to have fun.

Those teen years passed all too quickly, and graduation in June led us down the future paths of our separate lives. Tom Huge would go on to distinguish himself in the entertainment industry. Mark Schwehn became Professor Dr. Schwehn at Valparaiso.

Our class produced factory workers, engineers, doctors, lawyers, educators, office workers, nurses, construction workers, policemen and soldiers. And yet there is still that thread that bound us together back then as it does today. We are CLHS Cadets!