REV.
E. WILLIAM SCHWEPPE -
1901-1906Rev. Schweppe was born February 10, 1872 in Frotheim, Westphalia, Germany. He graduated in 1897 from Concordia Seminary, Springfield, Illinois.
From 1897 to 1906, he served as a missionary in and around Petoskey, MI
In 1901, Rev. William Schweppe was called from the pastorate of the congregation in Mancelona with the understanding that he was to reside in Traverse City but to continue to serve his former parish. He remained until 1906 when he accepted a call to St. Paul's congregation in Sadorus, Illinois.
His service at Trinity was only five years, but he remained at Sadorus from 1906 to 1941. While at Sadorus, he also taught in the congregation's parochial school. He retired in 1941 due to failing sight and hearing.
He moved to St. Louis, Missouri and affiliated with Bethlehem Lutheran where his daughter, Olga, had been a kindergarten teacher for 30 years. Pastor Schweppe assisted his own pastors and other North St. Louis pastors until two years before his death. He died in St. Louis September 15, 1951.
In 1898, Pastor Schweppe married Clara Broadhorst. She survived him along with two daughters and four sons.
The departed had prepared his own funeral sermon on I Tim. 1:15 testifying to the glorious comfort that sustained him throughout his life and inviting all who mourn his passing to continue to avail themselves of the same. The Rev. Edward A. Krause conducted the funeral service at Bethlehem in St. Louis on September 18th, 1951 while Rev. E. C. Krause conducted the committal services at New Bethlehem Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.
Rev. Schweppe's obituary (written by Rev. E. C. Krause) appeared in German in Der Lutheraner Oct. 23, 195 l. It also appeared in English in The Lutheran Witness on Nov. 13, 1951.The only picture of Rev. Schweppe ever found was the one that appeared in Der Lutheraner which is duplicated here.