In Memoriam: Andrew K. Nitz

On August 2, 2003, the Lord called home my brother-in-law, Andrew Nitz. He and my sister had been married for over 14 years. The Lord called him home after a bout of cancer that was discovered last September.

As with my grandmother, Andy's life was lived in the Lutheran church in America. Andy's grandfather was a Lutheran pastor in North Prairie, Wisconsin (St. John's Ev. Lutheran). Pastor Winter was a member of the ministerium of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I am not sure when Rev. Winter retired or died, or even if he struggled with staying with Missouri or going with the Wisconsin Synod when the Synodical Conference dissolved. But from what Andy and his mother and aunt tell me, Pastor Winter was a strict pastor and very Scriptural. I had the opportunity to read a number of his sermons.

Andy and his immediate family did struggle with the issues of that dissolution, however. Andy and his siblings eventually took catechetical instruction and were confirmed in the faith at Mount Calvary in Waukesha, Wisconsin. This would be Andy's church home until the family moved to Indianapolis 2 ½ years ago and they transferred membership to Divine Savior in Indianapolis. (Both churches are members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.)

Because Andy's grandfather was a pastor, it seems his mother felt Andy should do likewise. I don't believe it was ever his desire and after college Andy soon went into maintenance at Avalon Manor in Waukesha. It reminds me of a Luther quote: "If everyone becomes a preacher, there will be no one to preach to." Andy became a pastor to his family, just as God calls all fathers to shepherd their families. He made sure his children took catechism instruction and, while they lived in Waukesha, the children attended Lutheran Grade School at Mount Calvary. Up to the very end he drove 45 minutes each way to worship with his family in the Lord's House-a fact not forgotten by pastor in his funeral sermon.

It was in college (Northwestern College, Watertown, Wisconsin) that I met Andy, and eventually we were roommates. My sister met Andy through this friendship. She had no interest at first because Northwestern was a preparatory college for seminary training in the WELS. As my sister quip to Rev. Mark Kipfmiller, the officiating pastor at their wedding, "I thought he was going to be a pastor and, no offense intended, but I wasn't going to marry a pastor."

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