Ralferd C. Freytag Family

Ralferd C. Freytag and his wife, Harriet Stencill Freytag, and their children, Eric Christopher and Mary Grace, are presently living in Wofsburg-vorsfelde in the Federal Republic of Germany. Ralferd, a pastor of the American Lutheran Church, is serving in the Lutheran congregation of Vorsfelde, a suburban congregation in Wolfsburg, as one of three pastors.

The eldest son of Carl H. and Valeta Rohrs Freytag, Ralferd Carl Freytag was born on a farm, then owned by William Lange, near Ridgeville Corners, Ohio. During his childhood, Ralferd's family lived on various farms near Napoleon, Ohio. In 1940, the family settled in Freedom Township on the farm formerly owned by members of Valeta's family.

Ralferd attended the first two years of school at the one-room school adjacent to the farm owned by his grandfather, George Freytag. From the third through the eighth grades, he attended St. Paul's Lutheran School in Napoleon. He also sang in the children's choir of the church. During his late childhood and teen's, he had a pronounced interest in music, studied piano, and later, at the university, pipe organ. His high school years, in which he joined the high school orchestra under the direction of Mike Lombardi, the boys' glee club, junior and senior plays, and various other activities, were accompanied by an active participation in the life in, and around his church, St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, then served by Rev. George L. Heuter.

After graduation from high school, Ralferd enrolled in Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, beginning the course of education and training leading to ordination as a minister of the Lutheran Church. During seminary years at the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, Ralferd was offered, and accepted, the opportunity of serving his theological internship at the German-language Lutheran Church in Rome, Italy. During this time, he also served the Lutheran churches in Bozano and Milan, Italy, for short periods of time, working during his service in Italy under the supervision of Erich Dahlgruen, Dean of the Lutheran Church in Italy.

In 1951-52, he continued the study of theology at the University of Erlangen at Erlangen, Germany, returning in 1952 to complete his training at the seminary in Columbus.

After completion of the work for the Bachelor of Divinity degree, Ralferd became assistant pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, Ann Abor, Michigan. In 1955, he became the pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Ottawa, Canada. There in Canada's national capitol, he carried on a ministry in both English and German languages. A large number of the parishioners of this congregation were families and individuals who had fled, or been expelled from, Eastern Europe toward the end of the Second World War. In 1956, members of the congregation participated in the re-settlement of refugees from the Hungarian Revolution.

During these years, Harriet, who was a member of St. John's, and Ralferd became acquainted and were married on April 23, 1962. Harriet was born in Alice, Ontario, in the Ottawa Valley, where several branches of her family have lived since their immigration from Germany in the early 19th Century.

The newly-married couple followed a call to St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church at Webster, a suburb of Rochester, New York. Their son, Eric Christopher, was born on August 10, 1963, and their daughter, Mary Grace, was born on October 26, 1966.

In 1966, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Ralferd served as pastor of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ovington Avenue. During this time, he enrolled in a program of clinical pastoral education at the Lutheran Medical Center, and also completed a Master's degree in Theology in Pastoral Counseling at New York Theological Seminary. He continued work in the area of clinical pastoral education at Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, Illinois.

In September, 1973, Ralferd was called to serve in the Lutheran congregation of Vorsfelde in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brunswick. Since the move to Germany, Ralferd and Harriet have been following their interest in history, art, and travel, spending much of their vacation time traveling to visit interesting historic sites in Europe.

Greetings!

Submitted by: Ralferd Freytag