Rev. Delayne Henry Pauling – Called to Glory

Services will be at 1 p.m., Sunday, October 14, at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church, 1301 N LaSalle Drive, Chicago, Illinois. The Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Johnson will officiate. Final resting place will be at Wunder’s Cemetery, 3963 N Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois.

Delayne Henry Pauling, the son of Elon and Ida Fiddelke Pauling, was born April 10, 1934, in Union Township, O’Brien County, Iowa. He was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church, Paullina, O’Brien County, Iowa. Delayne attended Concordia College (now Concordia University) Saint Paul, and Concordia Theological Seminary, Saint Louis.

Early in his career, he served as a student chaplain in Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He served at Saint Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Huntington, Long Island, New York, while he was studying to become a minister. Upon graduation, he was assigned as missionary-at-large to the Lutheran Church of Bloomfield Township, an LCMS mission church in suburban Detroit, Michigan. Under his direction, the church grew, relocated, built a new building, and became Cross of Christ Lutheran Church. He accepted a call as Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Later he accepted an executive position at Carson Pirie Scott & Company in Chicago’s loop, while becoming a worker-priest pastor actively involved in student ministry. He served at Gloria Christi Lutheran Church at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, while working at Carson Pirie Scott & Company. Pastor Pauling returned to the ministry full time in 1979 and accepted the challenge of starting a LCMS mission church in Downers Grove, Illinois. The church grew and became Cross of Christ Lutheran Church. First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Chicago called him to be Senior Pastor in 1982. He accepted the call and was instrumental in starting the community meals program held on Saturdays for those less fortunate in their area. After serving the congregation for twenty-three years, he retired in June 2005, and was granted emeritus status.

At the end of his service at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church, Del was honored for his contributions by receiving an honorary street sign, Honorary Pastor Del Pauling Way, which resides at the corner of Goethe and N. LaSalle Drive in Chicago. Del had an affinity for connecting with people, was a voracious reader, loved living in the city of Chicago, had a genuine interest in people, traveled the world, and loved the arts. After retiring, Del was a docent at the Lincoln Park Zoo and took pleasure in tending the gardens at Wunder’s Cemetery. Delayne is survived by a brother-in-law, Jack Mahnke, a sister-in-law, LaDonna Pauling, several nieces and nephews, and other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Elon and Ida Pauling, three brothers and two sisters-in-law, Lynford and Helen Pauling, Bradley and Sharmalee Pauling-DeRuyscher, Kenneth Pauling, and a sister, Linda Mahnke.