wfn.org | L. Edwin Wang, Lutheran Church Pensions Executive, Dies

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: L. Edwin Wang, Lutheran Church Pensions Executive, Dies
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>February 25, 2009  

L. Edwin Wang, Lutheran Church Pensions Executive, Dies
08-051-KS*/JB

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Dr. L. Edwin Wang, retired chief
executive of the former Augustana Pension and Aid Fund, and its
successor, the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) Board of
Pensions, died of natural causes at his home Jan. 28. He was 89.

A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. March 14 at
Normandale Lutheran Church, Edina, Minn., where Wang was an
active member for 50 years.

For 31 years, Wang served as chief executive of the pensions
programs for the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church and the
LCA until ill health compelled him to retire in 1987. Known for
his devoted, enthusiastic and highly capable service, Wang kept
the welfare of both the beneficiaries and benefit plans --
current and prospective -- front and center during his tenure,
according to a news release.

In 1988 the LCA merged with two other Lutheran church bodies
to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

"Ed had tremendous energy to serve other people," said John
G. Kapanke, ELCA Board of Pensions president, who worked for Wang
from 1973 to 1987. "While he was intellectually gifted and a
student of insurance and pension matters, his natural gift was
creating and promoting plans to support our leaders. He cared
that their benefits were strong and wanted to free them from
worry so they could focus on ministry." Kapanke became president
of the ELCA Board of Pensions in 1988.

The Minneapolis-based ELCA Board of Pensions provides
retirement, health, disability and survivor benefits to 50,000
pastors and church workers who serve through the ELCA.

"Ed helped shape the foundation that supports our benefit
program today. But there's more to his legacy. Ed also understood
the importance of the church's mission and how to help fulfill it
for the sake of ministry. He did right by those he was charged to
serve. That tradition, thanks to Ed's early leadership, lives on
today for those who serve through the ELCA."

Born in Medford, Ore., Wang attended the University of
California, Oakland (Calif.) Junior College and the University of
Minnesota.  He was managing an insurance agency in Oakland when
he was asked to move to Minneapolis in 1956 and serve the
Augustana Pension and Aid Fund. When Augustana and three other
Lutheran church bodies merged in 1962 to create the LCA, Wang was
named chief executive. Under his leadership the assets of the LCA
Board of Pensions grew from $7 million to about $805 million.

Wang's financial acumen was recognized and respected outside
church circles, said Kapanke, who counts Wang as a mentor, role
model and friend. In addition to Wang's service in congregations,
he was a past member of the board of directors of Mutual of
America Life Insurance Company, the Pension Research Council of
the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the
board of trustees of the National Foundation for Philanthropy. In
1967 Wang received an Outstanding Service Award from Minnesota
Gov. Harold LeVander for serving as the state's acting
commissioner of insurance. In 1970 Midland Lutheran College,
Fremont, Neb., awarded Wang an honorary doctorate of humane
letters.  Midland is one of 28 ELCA colleges and universities.

Wang studied Egyptian history and was past president of the
Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, the news release said.
He also loved fishing.

Wang is survived by his wife, Astrid, a son, David, and two
daughters, Linnea and Judith, plus several grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.

>---

* Kathy Shea is a health and wellness communications
specialist for the ELCA Board of Pensions.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog