Pastor Roger A. Ganzel, born November 4, 1939 in Neenah, Wisc., passed from this life into life eternal on April 25, 2019.
Roger leaves his wife, Diane (Lindner) Ganzel; his daughter, Lisa Angil of Amelia Island, Fla., and her children, Elizabeth Angil and John Michael Angil; his son, Mark Ganzel (Deborah) of Linneus, Maine and their children, Joshua, Tabetha, Autumn, and Alexis.
Pastor Ganzel was predeceased by an infant daughter. He is also survived by a brother, William Burns (Kathy) of Middleton, Wisc.; a sisters, Kathleen Hedberg of Houston, Texas and Connie Griesbach (Al) of Appleton, Wisc.; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Schools that he attended include Menasha High School, Menasha, Wisc.; Carthage College, Carthage, Ill.; and Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, Minneapolis, Minn., where he earned a Master of Divinity in 1963. Between his second and third year of seminary, he married his lifelong partner, Diane.
Upon ordination in 1964 as a new pastor, God chose a somewhat unique path of ministry for him, that of being a church/developer. Over the next 40 years, he and his wife helped establish five new congregations: Ascension Lutheran Church in Green Bay, Wisc., Christ the Victor Lutheran Church in New Berlin, Wisc., Peace Lutheran Church in Waunakee, Wisc., Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Dublin, Ohio, and All Saints Lutheran in Hudson, Fla.
He retired in January 2002, when he and his wife moved to Amelia Island, Fla. In retirement he continued to serve the church in various ways. Since 1974, Pastor Ganzel has been a member of Rotary clubs and was a member of the Rotary Club of Fernandina Beach. In Boy Scouts, he held the rank of Eagle.
His avocation interest had been architecture, successfully having designed and built passive-solar. His lifelong interest for study was history, which he used to make sense of everything he didn’t understand, including the Bible.
Donations in his memory may be made to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church here on the island or Shelterbox USA through the Rotary Club of Fernandina Beach.
The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Monday, April 29, 2019 at Oxley-Heard Funeral Home in Fernandina Beach, Fla.
Please share your memories and Condolences at www.oxleyheard.com.
Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors