"Rev." Elmer Edward Griesse

My name is Rev. Elmer Edward Griesse
born  7 Feb 1919, Missouri and passed away 15 May 2010, Monroe, Washington


Elmer Edward Griesse passed away May 15th in Good Samaritan nursing home Yakima, Washington. The 6th of 10 children, he was born in Meinert, Missouri on February 7th 1919 to Lydia Wassman and August Griesse, a Lutheran pastor. He followed the same vocation as his father, together with 5 of his brothers. After finishing Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and obtaining his Master's in History at Washington University, he embarked on a missionary career in southern India. He began his missionary work after WWII during the turbulent period of the Indian Independence movement led by Gandhi. On furlough, he met his future wife, Florine, who was working in the Lutheran Mission Office in St. Louis. She accompanied him for 12 of the 19 years he was in India. Mark, their first son, was born in 1953 and is today pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Selah, Washington. Margaret, their second child, was born in 1958 and is currently residing in Tacoma, where she and her husband teach at the University of Washington. In 1963, they returned to the United States and served congregations in Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, and Mississippi. Tolerant and idealist, Elmer emphasized the Theology of the Cross and its Christ-centered interpretation of the Gospel. He loved singing in the choir and until his final days, he sang the bass line of hymns. His favorite composer was Johann Sebastian Bach and his favorite poet was Paul Gerhardt.