A lifetime in the Lutheran ministry

A Lutheran pastor who led congregations in Itasca, Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights, was known for his Bible classes and his attentiveness to visiting the sick.

The Rev. Kurt Grotheer served members of Lutheran Church of St. Luke in Itasca, St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights and St. John Lutheran Church in Mount Prospect during nearly 50 years in active ministry.

He was 95 when he died Nov. 4 at his family home in Mount Prospect.

Worshippers at all three churches mourned his passing. At St. Luke's in Itasca, they have tangible reminders of his ministry. Their church and school, at Rush and Washington streets, were built during Rev. Grotheer's 23-year tenure as pastor.

"When he first came there, they were using the white steepled church in the center of town," says his daughter, Pam Dammen, now of Novato, Calif. "They were still holding some services in German, so one of their biggest decisions was to hold all of their services in English."

The small church, now viewed as an iconic symbol in downtown Itasca, proved to be too small for the congregation, so Rev. Grotheer led members in a capital campaign that led to a new church campus. Its cornerstone was laid in 1962.

"That was the highlight of his career, definitely," Dammen says.

The Rev. Terry McReynolds, senior pastor at St. Luke's, describes the church's sanctuary, with its stained glass windows and arched ceiling as reflecting Rev. Grotheer's traditional approach to his ministry.

"He was very liturgical," Rev. McReynolds says.

Last year, when the congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary, Rev. Grotheer, the oldest surviving pastor present, preached from his wheelchair without notes, McReynolds says.

Rev. Grotheer's success in Itasca led to his assignment to the largest church in the Missouri Synod at the time, St. Peter's in Arlington Heights, where he retired in 1982 at the age of 70.

In retirement, Rev. Grotheer and his wife, Elvira, returned to Mount Prospect, where her family had been pioneers. Her father, Herman Meyn, had been mayor and fire chief, and her grandfather, John, had been the blacksmith.

Rev. Grotheer was preceded in death by his wife in 2006. Besides his daughter, he is survived by three other children, Corinne Ramming of Fairhope, Ala., Col. Kurt V. Grotheer Jr., of Tampa, Fla., and Valerie L. Grotheer of Evanston; as well as 10 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday at Lutheran Church of St. Luke, 410 S. Rush St. in Itasca.