Homer J. Kopke

Homer J. Kopke

NEWARK: It has pleased Almighty God in His infinite wisdom to call from this life Homer Joachim Kopke. May God comfort those who mourn, and teach them and teach us all that it is appointed unto man to die, and after this follows judgment.

Mr. Kopke was a minister of the United Church of Christ (UCC). He was the husband of Phyllis who preceded him in death on March 3, 2010. He was the father of Elaine (John) Gard of Newark, Ohio, Jonathan (Jane) Kopke of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lois (Steven) Koch of Superior, Colorado; he was the grandfather of Christina Koch, Rachel Gard, Brian Koch, and Leah Gard; and the great-grandfather of Katie Anne Gard; he was the brother of Theodore F. Kopke, late of Kingman, Arizona, and Thomas Kopke of Dearborn, Michigan.

Homer Kopke was born to Theodore and Marie Holmer Kopke on July 30, 1918, in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduation from West Technical High School, he served as an amphibious combat engineer in the United States' Army, primarily in the South Pacific, from before Pearl Harbor until after VJ Day. Immediately after the war, he served as one of the original "Seagoing Cowboys" who transported horses and cattle to war-ravaged regions of Denmark and Poland under the auspices of what is now known as Heifer International. He married Phyllis Blaser Kopke on September 6, 1947. After graduating from Franklin & Marshall College and the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology, he was ordained on June 17, 1951.

Pastor Kopke served as the minister at Saint Paul's UCC in Woodsfield, Ohio, from 1951 to 1958; Immanuel UCC in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1958 to 1965; West Side UCC in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1965 to 1967; and the First Congregational Church of Claridon (UCC) in Claridon Township, Ohio from 1967 to 1983. After his retirement, he served as an interim pastor and pulpit-supply pastor for many churches in the Cleveland area, most notably the Brooklyn UCC where he served as interim pastor during three extended periods. In 2003, Pastor Kopke and his wife moved to a retirement center in Newark, Ohio, and he devoted the rest of his life to caring for his wife during her prolonged illness. He was able to live in dependently until he died unexpectedly on October 28, 2010, at the age of 92.

A service of witness to the resurrection will be held 4:00 p.m. Sunday, October 31, 2010 at the First Congregational Church of Claridon (UCC), 13942 Mayfield Road at the intersection of Claridon-Troy Road, Claridon Township, Ohio. Inurnment will take place at a later date in the Claridon Township Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions in Pastor Kopke's honor may be given to continue his life-long involvement in Heifer International, PO Box 8058, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202.