Rev. Donald Becker, pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago, 1958-1996, died on Sunday, July 30. He was 89.
Services are being planned for August 4 and 5 by Dreschler Brown & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion in Oak Park, 708-383-3191 (www.drechslerbrownwilliams.com).
Pastor Becker was a native of Farley, Missouri, and married to Carolyn J. Gresens. The couple had two sons, David and Martin.
He received his AA from St. Paul Lutheran College, Concordia, Missouri, in 1948, and his BD from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1954. He served as vicar in Yokohama and Fujisawa in Japan and Manila in the Philippines, 1951-1953. His first call, in 1954, was to St. John Lutheran Church, Emporium, Pennsylvania, where he served until called to Chicago in 1958 where he served until he retired.
He was active in the Northern Illinois District as circuit counselor, on the Social Action Committee and other ad hoc committees, and was NID Urban Linkage Coordinator for many years in his retirement, helping facilitate connections between LCMS congregations in Chicago and the suburbs. He was active in the LWML and the Lutheran Human Relations Association as well as many civic groups.