Of Wauwatosa. Went home to his Lord on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at the age of 97 years. Beloved husband of the late Inga (nee Korte). Loving father of Rev. Mark (Diane), Jane Knappe (Andrew Heller) and the late Steven. Cherished grandfather of Kyle, Rachel (Trevor) Scalercio, Brian (Ashley) Heller and Justin (Alyson) Kline. Great-grandfather of Easton, Carson, Grant, Harrison, Jack, Jillian, Isabelle and Julia. Dear brother of Edith Humburg, who lives in Germany and brother-in-law of Rudy Korte.
Visitation will be on Friday, January 19 from 6:30PM until time of Compline (Prayer at close of day) at 8PM at Peace Lutheran Church; W240 N6145 Maple Ave., Sussex. Additional visitation will be on Saturday, January 20 at Peace Lutheran Church from 9:30AM until time of Funeral Service at 11:30AM. Burial will take place at Elmwood Cemetery in River Grove, IL (2905 N. Thatcher Rd.) on Monday, January 22 at 1PM. Please meet at the cemetery office. In lieu of flowers memorials in Rev. Dr Wolf’s name to Peace Lutheran Church or The Society of the Holy Trinity that Wolf was a longtime member are greatly appreciated.
To watch the livestream service on Saturday at 11:30AM, please click here.
Life biography written by Wolf:
(Written on June 25, 2003. This is the date on which the Augsburg Confession was delivered in 1530. It was also on this date that I was released from the PW camp near Ulm, Germany in 1945. This ended the war for me and has been a day of special thanksgiving for me ever since).
I was born on March 30, 1926, together with my twin brother Manfred, at home, in Hohegrethe, near Koblenz, Germany. The “Hohegrethe” was a Biblisches Erholungsheim (a Bible Retreat Center) which my father, the Rev. Dr. Wilhelm Knappe, directed from 1925 to 1931.
God gave me believing parents and eventually 4 siblings (my brother plus 3 sisters) that were fun to grow up with. On May 14 I was baptized, together with my brother, in our home by our father. God called me to be his child in holy baptism. In 1931 Dad received a call to St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Munich, so that is where I grew up; started Grade School in 1932, Gymnasium in 1936.
I was drafted as Luftwaffenhelfer (Air Force Helper) in 1943. This essentially was service in a light flak (anti-aircraft) battery. It was followed by service in a Mountain Ranger unit. I was taken prisoner by Allied forces on May 3, 1945 and released again 8 weeks later (see above). Both of my parents had been killed in an air raid on July 21, 1944 so I had no home to go to. But I was fortunate to be able to start my seminary training at the University of Erlangen that Fall. I graduated from Seminary in 1948 and received a scholarship to do graduate work in the United States for one year. I earned a Masters of Theology (STM) from the Chicago Lutheran Seminary, located in Maywood, IL in 1949. I went back to Germany that year and was ordained on November 27, 1949 in St. Anna Lutheran Church in Augsburg, Germany. I served Epiphany Lutheran Church in Munich for 2 years and then received a call to St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Wine Hill, near Steeleville, IL.
On August 29, 1950 I was married to Inga, nee Korte who has been my faithful life companion throughout all these years.
ON March 5, 2005 at 2AM, God called my beloved Inga. She had battled multiple myeloma for over 4 years with great fortitude. May she rest in peace and may the eternal light shine on her. She was laid to rest in Elmwood Cemetery, next to our little Stevie and also her parents and her Uncle Paul. Jesus tells us: I live, and you shall live also. (John 14:19)
God blessed us with 3 children: Mark, Jane and Stevie. Our greatest sorrow came when we lost Stevie in an accident in Chicago when he was only 7 ½ years old. Our only comfort: He was and is a child of God, made His in holy baptism and we can look forward to seeing him and all our loved ones when our time comes to depart this earthly life for a better kingdom.
From Wine Hill we went to Nebraska where I was teaching New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary for a year. Then I followed a call to be mission developer in Belleville, IL where we organized St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in 1957. Then followed calls to Lyons-Pell Lake, WI (a dual parish) in 1957, Chicago (St. Paul) in 1961, Philadelphia (Tabor) in 1970 and Brookfield, IL (Faith) in 1986.
In 1977 I received the degree of “Doctor of Sacred Theology” (STD) from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. I retired from Brookfield in 1991. In my retirement I was privileged to serve as interim pastor at Tabor (Chicago), Holy Trinity (Berkeley, IL) and St. Peter & St. Paul (Blue Island).
I am grateful that between these interims, I was still able to do some ministry: Supply preaching, conducting German services in Naperville once a month, doing some teaching and lecturing etc.
I am looking forward to the time when God will call me to His heavenly home. I ask for His grace to keep me on His way, to be with my wife and family and preserve them all in the faith. May He be gracious to all of us for the sake of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord.
-Wolf Dietrich Knappe
