Tribute to a Mentor

 

In many ways I had lost my way in the winter of 1964.  I had graduated from Lutheran High School East the previous spring.  I did not have much to show for my four years at LHE.  While most of my classmates had plans for college, I woke the morning after graduation with no agenda.  That’s what happens when you are ranked in the bottom 10% of your class.  Other than a varsity letter in cross country, I was ranked 7^th on the team, I had accomplished little.  I was not a bad kid, just one with low self-esteem, who therefore let others make decisions for me.

That is probably why I enrolled in trade school.  My friend, Chuck Denner, was heading there to study electronics and he convinced me to tag along.  It took me six weeks to discover that I had no aptitude for or interest in electronics, and another six weeks to make the decision to quit.  My dad intervened.  The church janitor was having health issues and needed an assistant, and I needed a job.  He strongly suggested it would be a good match.  Hence my career in ministry began cleaning bathrooms, emptying wastebaskets and making sure the church lawn was trimmed. 

Our church had a vicar that year.  Part of my daily routine was visiting his office to collect his trash.  We always had a brief visit.  It did not stop there.  We started sharing our “brown bag lunch” together.  He was a Cardinal Fan and I rooted for the Tigers.  Bob Gibson was his hero and mine was Al Kaline.  We also talked about life.  He was the first person who planted the seed that maybe I could do something with mine.  I had to admit that my past poor choices were weighing on me and I was having trouble sleeping.  At his encouragement, I enrolled in a local college for the second semester.  I did well enough in the two classes that I took that I applied to Concordia Teachers College.  My vicar wrote a letter of recommendation.  Much to my surprise, they accepted me.  So, in the fall of 1965 I headed off to River Forest, Illinois to begin my journey in ministry.  I was motivated.  I wanted to work with kids and help them make better choices than I had.

I am sharing that story now because my first mentor recently died.  His name was Alan Harre.  Dr. Harre served his vicarage at St. James Lutheran Church in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.  He returned to St. James and served as associate pastor while working on his doctorate at Wayne State University.  He went on to join the faculty at Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska and then served as president at Concordia-St. Paul.  He then spent over twenty years as President of Valparaiso University.  It was there that our paths crossed again, when our son Mark, went to Valpo as a student. 

I thought of Dr. Harre often as I worked with students.  He is the reason I always had a heart for the kids who seemed to slip between the cracks.  It was easy to work with the star athletes and the students who were motivated academically.  I sought out the ones who blended in, or worse yet were ignored.  At graduation my colleagues would applaud the honor students, but I always did a “happy dance” for the kids who were just walking across the stage to get their diploma.  Often, I was the only one who knew their back-stories. 

Now you know mine.

Rest in peace, Dr. Harre.  Well done faithful servant.