Reverend Carl W. Weber

REVEREND CARL WISMER WEBER was born and raised in Camden, New Jersey in August of 1922 to the Reverend Paul Weber and Martha Weber. Reverend Weber ministered at Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church at North 7th and Market Street from the 1920s through at least 1959. The family, which included older sister Katherine, lived at 902 North 7th Street in North Camden.

In March of 2008 an album that I believe his mother put together of photos of young Carl growing up in Camden was made available on eBay. I did not win the album, but fortunately, a number of the pages had been scanned and I downloaded them. They are a remarkable window into 1920s–1930s life in North Camden.

Carl W. Weber was a 1941 graduate of Camden High School. After graduating from Temple University he attended the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and was ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1946.

Rev. Weber had a long and distinguished career, serving for 33 years in Philadelphia and 28 years in Burlington County. Reverend Weber passed away in June of 2012 at the age of 89.

Club Gives Shower

The Thimble Club of Epiphany Lutheran Church gave a surprise novelty shower in honor of Mrs. Paul Weber at its last meeting of the season Thursday afternoon. The meeting took place at the home of Mrs. Pauline Landwehr, 638 Penn Street. Festoons of pink rambler roses made attractive decorations. Among those present were: Mrs. T. Weber, Mrs. E. Sudler, Mrs. Fred Himmelein Sr., Mrs. William Oaks, Mrs. A. Clark, Mrs. Charles Preisendanz, Mrs. Edward Preisendanz, Mrs. Hodgkiss, Mrs. Wilbur Weintz Sr., Mrs. Bird, Mrs. Pockerto, Mrs. Spaeth, Mrs. William Zink, Mrs. Frank Neutze, Mrs. John Schoellkopf, Ms. Adams, Mrs. Kittelson, Miss Sue Ronstadt, Mrs. William Hussong, Mrs. Kate Bentley, Mrs. L.J. Ostermayer, Miss D. Miller, Mrs. George Landwher and Mrs. Pauline Landwehr.

The Rev. Dr. Carl W. Weber served as pastor of St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church Mayfair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for 32 years. During this time the congregation grew from 350 members to 3,200 adults members, the largest in the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod of the Lutheran Church in American.

Under Dr. Weber’s leadership, the congregation paid off the church debt of $175,000, constructed a $400.00 educational unit, installed a new $250,000 pipe organ, a $15,000 lighting system and a $3,000 mosaic-tile reredos. Dr. Weber served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Lutheran Children and Family Service; the Committee on American Mission; the Board of the Greater Philadelphia Council of Churches and the Lincoln High School Home and School Association of Philadelphia. He is past-president of the Philadelphia Lutheran and interdenominational ministerial association and the Home and School association. He is a frequent guest speaker for churches, service groups, television and radio.

He began singing songs in his sermons while in seminary and has continued to this day. These song-sermons have been widely acclaimed. Dr. Weber feels the diversification of media is helpful in proclaiming Christ as the Saviour.

He is listed in “Who’s Who in the East.” In 1973, Muhlenberg College gave him the Doctor of Divinity Degree in recognition of his outstanding ministry.

He is a graduate of Camden High School, Temple University and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, receiving the Master of Divinity Degree. He was ordained by the Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1946. He served St. John’s Lutheran Church, Catawissa, Pennsylvania for three and one-half years, then accepted the call to St. John’s Mayfair, Philadelphia, in 1949. He now serves as pastor-Emeritus.

Reverend Doctor Carl W. Weber, formerly of Southampton, NJ, died Thursday, June 21st, at the Masonic Home of New Jersey in Burlington Township, he was 89 years of age. Born in Camden, NJ, on August 7, 1922 he was the son of the late Reverend Paul C. and Martha F. Weber. A graduate of Camden High School, Class of 1941 he graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1944. Dr. Weber then continued on and graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1946. Later he received his Doctor of Divinity from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. A member of the N.J. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, he was the former pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Philadelphia where he served from 1949–1982. Dr. Weber retired in 2009 as pastor of Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Burlington Township after 28 years of service.

Preceded in death by his wife Marion B. Weber, who died in 2006, he is survived by his daughter and son in law: Carolyn W. (Ronald) Trostel of Woodbridge, VA., his two granddaughters: Candace Trostel and Amy Biel and three great-grandchildren: Logan, Amber and Mason.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation Sunday evening from 7:00–9:00 p.m. and Monday morning from 10:00–11:00 a.m. followed by funeral services at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1308 Mt. Holly Rd., Burlington Township, NJ. The Reverend Harald Peeders, pastor, will officiate. Entombment will follow in Harleigh Cemetery/Mausoleum, Camden, NJ.

The family requests that donations in Dr. Weber’s memory be made to either Holy Trinity Evangelical Church, 1308 Mt. Holly, Rd., Burlington, NJ. 08017, or, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 3101 Tyson Ave., Philadelphia, PA. 19149.

Arrangements are under the direction of Page Funeral Home, Burlington.