Harold Tegtmeier

Rev. Harold Frederick Tegtmeier was born January 10, 1932 to Fred C. and Elsie (Wetengel) at the Tegtmeier farm in Bennington Township in Black Hawk County near Waterloo, Iowa. He was baptized in St. Paul's Evangelical Church in Mount Vernon Township on February 7, 1932 and was confirmed on April 2, 1944. Together with his family he joined Zion Lutheran Church in Waterloo on March of 1946. Harold received his education at the Bennington District Number 3 School. He graduated from Denver High School in 1949 as Valedictorian of his graduating class. Harold graduated from Wartburg Collage in Waverly, Iowa in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received his theological education at the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, interning at Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton, Iowa during the 1955-1956 school years. He graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree on May 29, 1957. After completing six weeks clinical training at Emmanuel General Hospital in Portland, Oregon, he accepted a call to serve as the Assistant Pastor to St. John Lutheran Church at LeMars, Iowa. He was ordained a pastor on July 1, 1957. He served as intern pastor for 34 years, three churches in Illinois and nine in Iowa. He was a great outdoorsman. He belonged to Iowa Mountaineers for years. Harold spent two summers in St. Joe National Forrest in Idaho during his seminary years. After retirement he worked five years at Glen Echo Resort Poudre River Canyon in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Harold moved to Spirit Lake in 1999 after his health declined. He passed away December 2, 2011 at Hilltop Care Center in Spirit Lake, Iowa. He is survived by two brothers, Hans and his wife, Fran; nephews, Hans Lee and Stacy Dean of Spirit Lake and Frederick and his wife, A.J. of Waterloo; niece, Kim; nephews, Steve and James; sister-in-law, Ann Tegtmeier. He was preceded in death by his parents.