Skip to main content

Walter C. Gerken Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Collection ID-3047

Scope and Contents

The collection contains two items from World War 1 that Chaplain Gerken received during his chaplaincy service during the war: a "Soldbuch" (payroll record) for a German noncommissioned officer and a First Army, AEF, situation map showing the German order of battle as of 3/4 November 1918.

Dates

  • Creation: 1918

Biographical / Historical

Walter C. Gerken was born 17 October 1912 in Leduc, Alberta, Canada, the oldest child of Pastor August Gerken. He attended Concordia College (Fort Wayne, Indiana) and Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis, Missouri) and was ordained and installed as pastor at Saint Peter, Thawville, Illinois, on 24 October 1937. He served as a chaplain in the U.S. Army during World War 2 in the South Pacific and later at parishes of Saint John (Rochester, Michigan) and First (Pasadena, California). From 1961 to 1967 he was assistant executive director of the Lutheran Deaconess Association in Fort Wayne and Valparaiso, Indiana. He died 22 August 1991.

Extent

1 Folders (One folder)

Language of Materials

German

English

Physical Location

3.9.3.7

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Received from Chaplain Ernest Wenzel, LCMS Armed Forces Ministry, July 1983.

Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Concordia Historical Institute Repository

Contact:
804 Seminary Place
Saint Louis MO 63105 USA
314-505-7935