Rev. John H. Wagner Jr.

WAGNER, Rev. John H. Jr. Died peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, at the age of 76 on August 23, 2005 at his home in Santa Rosa, CA of cancer. John was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Hudson Heights, NJ; son of Rev. John H. Wagner, Sr. and Helene Grittner Wagner. John graduated from Gettysburg College and received a Masters in Theology from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. While there, he met his wife Dorothy, a nursing student in New York City. They married on December 18, 1954 and recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. John's first call to ministry in Lavallette, NJ was to establish Faith Lutheran Church. His ministry continued with the National Lutheran Council in Chicago, IL and the National Council of Churches in NY. In 1966 he moved to Los Angeles, served as Director of the Interfaith Committee of the LA Goals Project, Director of Joint Heath Venture, Executive Director of Lutheran Social Services of Southern California and Director of United Way's Kellogg Training Center. He then served as Pastor to Lutheran congregations in Southern California including those in Inglewood, Hollywood, Glendale, Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Downey. In 2004, he retired to Santa Rosa and became an active member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church leading services at Bethlehem Towers, assisting in developing Bethlehem's health ministry program and working with the Santa Rosa Interfaith Ministerial Association. John is survived by his wife, Dorothy. He was a loving father to four children, two sons Robert and William, and two daughters Lynne Schouest and Joy Petty; doting grandfather to Jonathan, Christopher, Timothy, Katrina, Elizabeth, and Jackson; sagacious father-in-law to Stephen, Gary, and Alan; devoted brother to Mary, Barbara, and Kitti; gracious brother-in-law to Terry, Barbara and Adnan, and Richard; and caring uncle to David, Kassie, Steven, John, and Samir. John lived a life dedicated to God's word. He shared his compassion for others with a great vision for urban ministries and social justice and was well respected as a planner and leader among all the communities he touched. John always found time for his family, his love of music, gardening, reading, woodworking and feeding the birds. A Celebration of Life for John officiated by Rev. Brian Claasen and Rev. Chris Sanderson will be held on Sat. September 3, 2005 at 3:00 pm at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1300 St. Francis Rd, Santa Rosa. Memorial gifts in his memory may be made to Bethlehem Lutheran Church or Memorial Hospice.