Rev. Roger L. Sommer

Roger Llewellyn Sommer Birth 25 Nov 1905 Saint Louis, St. Louis County. Missouri Death 28 Sep 1982 South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana, Burial 30 Sep 1982 Culver Masonic Cemetery Culver, Marshall County, Indiana,son of Martin Samuel Sommer smd Laura Brinkmeyer

Rev. Roger L. Sommer
CULVER Rev. Roger L. Sommer, of 302 N. Main St., died at 3:05 p.m. Tuesday St. Joseph's Medical Center, South Bend, where he had been a patient since Sunday.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Bonine Funeral Home.

Rev. Luther Albrecht, pastor of St. John the Divine Lutheran Church, Chicago, will officiate.

Burial will be in the Culver Masonic Cemetery.

Friends may call after 7 p.m. today and until services Thursday in the funeral home.

Rev. Sommer had lived in the Culver area since 1972, coming from Chicago.

He was a retired Lutheran minister where he had served as pastor for 40 years at St.John the Divine Lutheran Church.

He was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church.

On Jan. 17, 1937, in Fort Wayne, he married Elma Michels, who survives with a daughter, Margaret Furtyo of Summit, Ill. - The South Bend Tribune Wed, Sep 29, 1982 ·Page 9

married 17 Jan 1937 Allen County, Indiana Elma Adele Michels Birth 23 Nov 1907 Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana Death 30 May 1986 Culver, Marshall County, Indiana Burial Culver Masonic Cemetery Culver, Marshall County, Indiana daughter of Louis Henry Michel and Mary Caroline Franke

Elma Sommer
CULVER - Elma Sommer, 78, of 624 Forest Place, died at 12:10 p.m. Friday in Miller's Merry Manor nursing home. Bonine Funeral Home. is handling arrangements. - South Bend Tribune Sat, May 31, 1986 ·Page 4


Elma M. Sommer
CULVER - Services for Elma M. Sommer, 78, of 624 Forest Place, who died at 12:10 p.m. Friday in Miller's Merry Manor, after an illness, will be at 11 a.m. Monday in Bonine Funeral Home.

Burial will be in Culver Masonic Cemetery.

Friends may call from 7 to 9 p.m. today in the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, of which she was a member.

Mrs. Sommer was born Nov. 23, 1907, in Fort Wayne.

On Jan. 17, 1937, she married Rev. Roger L. Sommer. He died in 1982.

Surviving are a daughter, Margaret Furtyo of Summit, Ill.; a sister, Margaret Paulsen of California; and three brothers, Walter Michaels of Corunna, Ind., Louis Michaels of Fort Wayne and Clifford Michaels of Largo, Fla - South Bend Tribune South Bend, Indiana Sunday, June 01, 1986

Rev. Sommer Celebrates 50th Anniversary

The 50th anniversary celebration for Rev. Roger L. Sommer to commemorate his 50 years in the Ministry was held at Trinity Lutheran Church, Sunday. Pictured are a few of those present from left to right, Rev. Roger L. Sommer, Vicar Lawrence Rodincal, Martin Pape, Rev Mark Niemoelier, pastor of Emmaus Church, South Bend, Arthur Durst, Martin Praff, Chicago Police Sergeant and Rev. Luther Albrecht from St. John, Chicago.

Culver - Roger L. Sommer was born in St. Louis on November 25, 1905 to the Rev. and Mrs. Martin S. Sommer At that time his father was professor of Homiletics at Concordia Seminary.

After a secondary education at Holy Cross, a parochial school in St. Louis, Roger Sommer graduated in 1926 from Concordia College, Bronxville, N.Y. During the summers he also studied at Columbia and Johns Hopkins and was employed by two newspapers. However the call to the m inistry was too strong to resist, and he entered Concordia Sem inary, from which he graduated in June 1929

After seminary graduation the Mission Board called Rev. Sommer to start a south-side Chicago parish St. John, thc Divine. He served here for a total of 43 years as missionary, pastor, and pastor emeritus.

Under his leadership several other Chicago congregations were formed.

Before coming to Culver Rev. Sommer hadserved 17 greater Chicago parishes, of which two were as fill-in pastor.

In 1972 he came to Trinity, where he served, even several months after complete retirement, until Vicar Rodencal and family arrivd this June.

Rev. Sommer served the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod for 16 years as a member of the Committee on Scholarly Research, as well as 22 years as editor of the English District edition of the Lutheran Witness

Among Rev. Sommer’s writings are his sermons, published by CPH. several books. Ethics for Lutheran Pastors. The Pastor at Work, as well as writing for the Portals of Prayer.

In 1976 Concordia Seminary conferred the Doctor of Letters degree on Rev Sommer; this past June the Seminary called him back for his 50th anniversary.

Although retired from Culver, Rev. Sommer continues to remain active, serving Trinity for Communion and driving to Medaryville to fill a vacancyz

The Womens’ Guild of Trinity Church sponsored the reception. Miss Linda Snap gave the music and Kim Hebbeler of the Academy the solos. The message was given by Vicar Rodencal.

The offering of the service went to support a young man studying for the ministry at Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne.

People also from St. Mark’s Church, Medaryville, were present.

Dr. Sommer said, “In the words of Yogi Berra, Yankee catcher, on his day at the stadium I repeat: Thanks for makin this necessary” - that was all.