Stories of Joseph Sittler

Share a Story or Memory   |   Stories Main Page

I graduated from LSTC in 1979, way before the seminary courtyard was enclosed. In fact, there had been nothing planted in the courtyard since the building had been constructed. It was a non-descript expanse of crab grass.

Joe thought some trees should be planted. I don't know how he raised the funds to buy the trees, but I joined a couple of classmates in helping him plot out where to plant the trees. Of course, by 1979, he couldn't see across the courtyard. He spoke of his idea for a design, and we helpers tried to lay it out.

But where to begin? How to orient ourselves for the beginning of the design? Joe had an idea. He marked out the first corner of the arrangement — by jamming his umbrella into the soil and placing atop it his pork pie hat!

One of the things I appreciated about Joe Sittler was his absolute lack of pretension!

Andy Ballentine, Williamsburg, Virginia
 

Joseph Sittler is my grandfather. I met him when I was a young child, when he was already blind. I don't remember much about him, but this website is an invaluable resource, in that it allows me to get an idea of what he was like and what he meant to the people who knew him. I hope that this site continues to be a beacon of his teachings, and a preservation of his memory. Although I am not religious, I know that he has deeply influenced my upbringing in the moral values that he instilled in my father, and the rest of his children. If only I could meet him today, I know we would have much to talk about.

Edward (Chumley) Sittler, Austin, Texas
 

My husband Krister and Joe Sittler were two of the major speakers at a conference at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, in 1981. At the time, Krister was in a wheelchair, awaiting a double hip operation. He and I had never met Joe Sittler, but we found that the three of us were intellectually alike, and we had so much fun together. On our walks together on campus, Joe insisted on "driving" Krister in his wheelchair. As Joe took off each time with Krister, my heart was in my mouth as I watched this blind man pushing the lame, I knew not where. I always ran after them, quite afraid of an accident, but all was well and we continued to enjoy the conference and each other's company.

Told to Mel George by Brita Stendahl, Cambridge, Massachusetts
 

After Joe died, the time came to clean out his office at LSTC. Before the furniture was moved to the basement or dispersed to other rooms, my mother asked permission to buy an old wood chair that had been in Joe's office. In and of itself the chair is nothing remarkable. Camel back. Sturdy arms. Fading finish. There were probably others just like it in other offices on campus. But this one was Joe Sittler's chair! It now sits in my mother's home in a place of honor. I have been told that some day it will be mine. What a treasure!

Heidi Rodrick-Schnaath, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 

I recently attended a memorial service for a good friend and mentor, The Rev. Clyde McCormack, who had been a student of Joe's at Maywood Seminary and, for 25 years, the campus pastor at Northwestern University. It was there that my wife and I, as undergraduate students, knew "Mac" in the mid-50's, and it was Mac who introduced us to Joe Sittler, which was the beginning of our lifelong friendship with and admiration for Joe.

At Mac's service in Ohio last December, the liturgy was constructed as Mac had instructed, and the pastor preached a fine sermon. During the sermon he told of having attended a funeral years earlier that had been conducted by Mac for a "good Lutheran." In the course of that earlier funeral, Mac had told this story - Luther was once asked, "What is the duty of a Christian man?" Said Mac, "Luther replied, 'Drink your beer, love your wife, and say your daily prayers", emphasizing that the Christian man can live easily in God's grace.

After that funeral, the pastor went up to Mac and asked where in Luther's writings did that story appear. Mac replied that he really didn't know, as he had only heard the story from Joe Sittler. The pastor continued, in last December's message, by reporting that he had carefully checked Luther's writings and did not find such a story. At that, there were broad smiles on the faces in the congregation of those who had known Joe and his penchant for attributing to well-known persons things they really SHOULD have said but probably didn't. And it was typical of someone who respected and loved Joe as much as Mac did to "sin boldly" by repeating the story publicly.

Mel George, Columbia, Missouri
 

I never met Joseph Sittler. I never even knew who he was until I began working on this project (I built and maintain this website as a donation of the ELCA Vocation and Education unit), but I frequently meet those who have. Typically someone will ask me what I've been working on lately and I go through the litany of projects that have taken up my days and they will politely listen. But when I mention Joseph Sittler their eyes will often light up. They will become more animated. More excited. They often get a far-away look in their eyes like someone whose memories are flooding back to them. And they often go in for a swim and begin telling me about their meeting Joe, a class they had with him, about some detail of Sittler that has escaped their memory for years until that moment in time. And they do so with zeal!

These people, whose life has crossed paths with Joseph Sittler, have indelible marks upon them. They, like many of his countless students, friends, and colleagues, have been profoundly changed in a way that I can simply not know and I envy them this knowledge. But as I have learned while working on this project, Joseph Sittler lives through his writings, his recordings, and the collected stories of those privileged few whose lives occasioned to cross paths with his.

David Scott, Chicago, Illinois