Claudia Wagner
Claudia Wagner
Claudia Wagner
Claudia Wagner
Claudia Wagner
Claudia Wagner

Obituary of Claudia Benedict Wagner

Blessed with a loving marriage of nearly 63 years, Joe and Claudia died within the same week, peacefully and surrounded by family. 

 

Claudia Benedict Wagner died October 27, 2021, at age 85. Born June 20, 1936, in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, to Harold Oscar Benedict and Ruth Motley Benedict, Claudia grew up in Seattle and attended F.A. McDonald School and Lincoln High School (1954), then Wittenberg University, where she earned a B.S. in Education (1958). She later earned an M.S. in English from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana (1971). A gifted educator, Claudia taught primarily high school students across eight states (Ohio, Washington, South Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Illinois) for more than 30 years, always in public schools.  This included 14 years in the English Department of Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and later teaching future educators at Northern Illinois University. She had a particular love for American literature and the craft of writing. Claudia had the teacher’s talents of analysis and communication. She loved a story and the turn of a phrase, and loved nature, especially the sea. She carried on long and cherished correspondence with friends. Her fierce belief in young people – her family, her students – changed many lives.

 

Joseph Michael Wagner died October 21, 2021, at age 83. Born November 24, 1937, in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Aubrey Joseph Wagner and Dorothea Johanna Huber Wagner, Joe graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio (1959). He earned a Master of Divinity from Lutheran Southern Seminary (1963), and earned a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary (1987). As an ordained Lutheran pastor, Joe served the congregations of St. Timothy in Norfolk, Virginia, and Holy Trinity in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was called to serve on the staff of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod in Elkhart, Indiana, and in 1973, joined the national staff of the Lutheran Church in America in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In Chicago, Illinois, from 1987 until his retirement in 2002, Joe served as the Director of the Division for Ministry of the newly formed Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He was responsible for candidates for church occupations, theological education, and seminaries, and he worked to build unity among church denominations. Joe was a faithful servant of Christ, a gifted leader, a kind person and wise thinker, whose counsel was sought and cherished by many.  

 

Claudia and Joe met in the Wittenberg College choir, fell deeply in love, and were married December 26, 1958. Their faith in Christ grounded and inspired them throughout life. They raised a close and loving family as they moved among several states. They were endlessly supportive of their family as it grew. They loved and encouraged their children and spouses, and delighted in their grandchildren, treating each of the five to an individual visit with the grandparents to Colonial Williamsburg at age ten. Claudia and Joe shared intellectual curiosity and created gracious and hospitable homes. They retired to Port Townsend, Washington, in 2002, where they loved the various events, and volunteered at the visitor center and the public library. They were active members of Lutheran congregations over the years, most recently Grace Lutheran Church in Port Townsend.  They loved the natural world, especially beaches, geology and fossils, art, handmade things, a nice meal, and caring for plants and gardens. Both were readers, wrote articulately and with beauty, and were occasional poets. They took great joy in traveling the world, especially on many cruises, seeing new things, and learning. They were inseparable as a couple.

 

They are survived by three children, Melinda Wagner (Aaron Couch) of Portland, Oregon, Theresa Wagner (Carl Kaiser) of Lake Forest Park, Washington, and Paul Wagner (Carolyn) of Olympia; five grandchildren, Claire Kaiser, Nathan Couch, Daniel Kaiser, David Kaiser, and Andrew Couch; sister, Audrey Elam of Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and brother, James Wagner (Michele) of Newton, Massachusetts.  

 

A joint memorial service will be held Saturday, November 20, 2021, 1:00 p.m. at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church, 2400 NW 85th St., Seattle, WA 98117, with vaccinations, masks and distancing; online access at www.ourredeemers.net/virtual-worship  They were buried at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle. Memorial gifts may be directed to the Fund for Leaders in Mission, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Gift Center, PO Box 1806, Merrifield, VA 22116, www.ELCA.org/fundforleaders  The family contact is Rev. Melinda Wagner: pastormelinda@firstimmanuelluth.org

 

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