The Rev. Bill Bartels retires

Exactly 40 years after his ordination in Minnesota, Bill Bartels has retired from being pastor at the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Newark. He will continue with the church as Pastor Emeritus.

Bartels hails from the same hometown as Harry Truman - Independence, Missouri. He is a storyteller and historian, as well as a counselor, pastor and chaplain.

Born in Independence on Nov. 8, 1932, Bill Bartels was raised on dairy farms. After finishing eighth grade, he studied for six years at the Lutheran Church prep school, St. Paul's College in Concordia, MO. The next six years were spent in study at the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

In 1957, he was ordained and installed in the Christ Lutheran Church in Wolverton, MN. He was also the pastor at St. John's Lutheran in nearby Barnesville. (This summer, Bill and Dorothy Bartels attended the 50th anniversary celebration at the Barnesville church.)

In 1961 he answered a call from the Lutheran Services Society to be a chaplain in the Buffalo area. For almost three years he would be pastor at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Otto, in Cattaraugus County. During this time he was chaplain at the Erie County Penitentiary, Erie County Home and Lutheran Hospice.

In 1973 he earned his Master of Sacred Theology degree at Concordia Seminary.

When the West Seneca State School (now West Seneca Developmental Center) opened, he took a job with the state as their chaplain. For 10 years, he would serve there, until he moved to the Marcy Psychiatric Center, near Utica. He was there from June 1973 until September 1990. He also counseled at the McPike Alcoholism Treatment Center and spent much of his time working with prisoners in the Central NY Psych. Center. He is a certified Provisional Mental Health Chaplain.

He was pastor at Redeemer Lutheran from September 1990 until this June. His parishioners gave him a dinner at the Fairville Fire Hall at the end of June to mark his 40 years in the ministry, and his retirement from Redeemer.

The 170-member church is located on Hope Avenue, off Peirson and Edgett Streets. The church was built in 1958, with an educational wing added in 1973.

The Bartels have four children and three grandchildren. David and Mark live in the Utica area; Deborah lives in Westchester County and Sharon lives in Boston.

Dorothy, whose parents were born in Finland, is a masterful craftswoman and seamstress. The evidence of this is in the many beautiful banners she has made for the church. The pastor's hobby is music, and he plans to keep singing in the church choir.

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