wfn.org | The Rev. Ehme R. Osterbur, Former Lutheran Bishop, Dies

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 13, 2000

THE REV. EHME R. OSTERBUR, FORMER LUTHERAN BISHOP, DIES
00-170-MH*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Ehme R. Osterbur, 72, bishop of the
Illinois District of the former American Lutheran Church (ALC) from
1975 to 1988, died July 9 in Urbana, Ill.  He was a retired pastor of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     Funeral services for Osterbur were July 11 at St. John Lutheran
Church, Royal, Ill.
     Osterbur was born in 1927 in St. Joseph, Ill., and was a
graduate of Ogden High School in Ogden, Ill.  He completed a
bachelor's degree in 1949 at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, and
earned a master of divinity degree in 1952 and a doctorate in
divinity in 1975, both from Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque,
Iowa.
     Ordained at St. John Lutheran Church on June 8, 1952, Osterbur
served as pastor for three other Illinois congregations: Redeemer
Lutheran Church, Kewanee; St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Wyoming; and
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Lincoln.
     Osterbur served as an assistant to the bishop of the ALC
Illinois District from 1972 to 1975 and later was a representative
for the ELCA Foundation.  He also served on the board of Wartburg
Seminary, one of eight ELCA seminaries.  From 1992 to1998, Osterbur
served as visitation pastor for St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Urbana,
Ill.
     The ALC, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and
the Lutheran Church in America merged in 1988 to form the ELCA.
     Osterbur is survived by his wife Ella, a daughter, three sons,
a brother, three half-sisters and a half-brother.

[*Michael N. Hoffman is a junior at the University of Kansas,
Lawrence, Kan.  This summer he is an intern with ELCA News and
Information.]

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