Harry Castelli Funeral
Harry Castelli Funeral October 1, 2022 (died September 23) Note: I met Harry Castelli in October of 1972, when I first preached at First Evangelical Free Church in Wichita. His family lived in Andover, not far from where Jan grew up. He and his wife Carol, who joined the church in the early 60’s, became good friends during my first tenure as pastor, and that relationship only deepened when we returned to the church in 2004. I would count Harry as one of my…
Helen Day Memorial Service
Helen Day Memorial Service September 17, 2022 (died August 28) Note: Helen Day was an active and valued member of First Evangelical Free Church in Wichita for over 40 years. Obituary: Helen was born to George and Marie Rempel in Fowler, Kansas, the youngest of 13 siblings and the only one of the Rempel children born in a hospital. She grew up on her family’s dairy farm near Meade, Kansas, graduated high school from Meade Bible Academy, and attended Emmanuel Mennonite Church. Helen…
J. T. (James Timothy) Olsen Service
J. T. (James Timothy) Olsen Memorial Service September 24, 2017 (died September 16) Note: J. T. Olsen was a fifth grader when his family first came to our church in St. Louis in 1983. He struggled early on, and throughout his life, with severe mental illness, treatment-resistant depression, and after high school, with drug addiction. Though he made many efforts to get clean, he never fully succeeded. He passed away at the age of 42. Message: Thank you, David and Paul, for sharing your wonderful,…
Jane Ellen Kuenzle Funeral
Jane Ellen Kuenzle Funeral June 2, 2018 (died May 28) Note: Jane and her husband David were actively involved in our St. Louis church almost from the beginning. She was a great athlete and a delightful person with many friends. I was honored to be invited to return to St. Louis for her funeral. Obituary: Jane Ellen Kuenzle passed from this life to eternal life with Jesus on May 28, 2018. Wife of David Kuenzle; mother of Ben Kuenzle, Margaret Fay, Caroline Sullivan and…
Janet Carter Schwarz Memorial Service
Janet Carter Schwarz Memorial Service May 17, 2019 (died May 6) Obituary: Janet Carter Schwarz, 54, of Wichita, KS entered into the presence of her Lord and Savior on May 6 following a courageous battle with brain cancer. She was born August 18, 1964 to the late Betty Jean (Crouch) and Billy Roy Carter of Dallas, TX. Beloved wife of Frederick Kipp Schwarz, Jr. for 31 years, loving mother of Frederick Kipp “Trey” Schwarz III (Oklahoma City) and Benjamin James Schwarz (Seattle). Beloved…
Lois Joy Thomi Funeral
Lois Joy Thomi Funeral May 20, 2013. Introduction: We are here today in loving memory of Lois Joy Shultz Thomi, child of God, wife, mother, aunt, friend, and encourager par excellence. On behalf of Diana and the rest of her family, I want to thank you for coming and for all your expressions of kindness and grace. In recent years I have had the distinct honor of being Lois’ pastor here at First Evangelical Free Church, but a pastor who has known…
Mary Louise Andrus Graveside service
Graveside service for Mary Louise Andrus Thursday, December 12, 2019 (died December 8) Note: My dear mother died in December of 2019, and the family held a graveside service for her at the cemetery just outside the entrance to John Brown University, where my father was buried in 2006. Since my older brother could not be present, I was asked to conduct the brief service. We had intended to have a full memorial service for her shortly afterward when the whole family could…
Mary Hunt Evans Weber Funeral
Mary Hunt Evans Weber Funeral March 10, 2008 (died March 3) Note: Mary Weber and her husband George were dear friends of ours in St. Louis. I was unable to return to St. Louis for George’s funeral in 2014 due to scheduling problems, but I was honored to officiate at Mary’s service in 2008. Obituary: Mary Hunt Evans Weber died on Monday March 3, 2008. Beloved wife for 45 years of George Weber III; loving mother of Laura Weber Malzahn (Bryan), George ‘Skip’…
Nap Easterbrook Memorial Service
Nap Easterbrook Memorial Service, October 19, 2021 (died October 15) Note: During my first year as pastor of our fledgling congregation in St. Louis, a couple showed up one Sunday who changed the course of my ministry. Nap and Phyllis Easterbrook were obviously broken and hurting and were desperately looking for spiritual refuge. I had always believed the church should be a hospital, so I welcomed them, but I knew very little about what it meant to be a spiritual trauma surgeon. For three…
Richard Schumacher Funeral
Richard Schumacher Funeral May 28, 2011 (died May 21) Note: Richard Schumacher was a leading layman, and eventually a valued staff member, at First Evangelical Free Church in St. Louis. Though I had been gone from the church for seven years when he passed away, I was invited to bring the message at his funeral and was delighted to do so. Message: It is an enormous privilege for me to participate with these other friends of Richard in this memorial service today. I loved…
A Tribute to my Father Dr. Roger J. Andrus
A Tribute to my Father I wrote this tribute and it was read by my brother Joel at his funeral service in Siloam Springs, AR. Dr. Roger J. Andrus was born on October 17, 1915 and died on December 13, 2006. He and my mother celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary one week earlier. My dad was over 91 years old, which seems like a miracle since he nearly died of a heart attack thirty-three years ago. He had bypass surgery twice, endured countless…
Ruth Scheer Memorial Service
Ruth Scheer Memorial Service January 10, 2022 (death January 4, 2022) Obituary: Ruth Dieffenbacher Scheer entered her heavenly home on Jan. 4, 2022, after 95 years of glorifying her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, here on this earth. She was born on Dec. 13, 1926, to Clyde and Edith Dieffenbacher and learned to play her accordion before she was ten. She graduated from Wichita North High School in 1944 and from Wichita University in 1948 with a major in English and with minors…