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Pastor Norb Firnhaber was baptized into the Christian faith at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, West Point, Nebraska. His dear parents decided to give him the names of both grandfathers as middle names. Hence, a long one: Norbert August Wilhelm Firnhaber.
Pastor Norb grew up in the country of southern Illinois, where his father was his teacher all eight years in a one-room Lutheran school. After this parochial and loving environment, he went some 300 miles west to a Lutheran high school in Concordia, Missouri.
He graduated from Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne with a major in philosophy.
From there Pastor Norb graduated with a master’s degree from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. While in ministry in his first parish he earned a master’s degree in counseling at the University of Northern Iowa and later, while campus pastor at San Jose State, a doctorate in ministry at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California.
While in college, he met his dear wife and partner, Geanie. He loved her immediately and that never wavered. She is truly a remarkable woman. That feeling grew with every year. Their marriage of 57 years was blessed with Pascha (and Joe) Copeland and sons Brock and Alex, Tessa (and Casey) Burns and children Davis, Piper and Augie, and son Zachary and daughter Eleanor.
His living siblings are Karl in West Covina, California; Colleen Marasus, Canadian Lakes, Michigan; Naomi Karmeier in Overland Park, Kansas; and Natalie Firnhaber in Sarasota, Florida.
Pastor Norb had the privilege of serving Lutheran parishes at Our Redeemer, Cedar Falls, Iowa; Bethany, West Hartford, Connecticut; and Triumphant Love, Austin, Texas. He served as campus pastor at San Jose State University and the University of Texas, Austin. While campus pastor he also taught religion at SJSU and Concordia University, Austin.
His hobbies were reading, writing, spirited conversation, running (logging some 44k miles since ordination as he kept track of this), tropical fish, sports, and at the top, loving his dear wife, children and grandchildren.
Pastor Norb felt deeply that all of life is a calling of grace. The ministry was a meaningful vocation, and he often felt it was difficult to discern work from joy as both were the salient features of ministry. His particular joy was preaching, counseling, teaching and writing. His anchor conviction: the Resurrection of Christ gives hope and meaning and direction to his living and his dying.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 29th, at 11:00 AM at Triumphant Love Lutheran Church with reception in the Fellowship Hall to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to TLLC Endowment Fund, Meals on Wheels, Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Disaster Response, or Southern Poverty Law, Global Refuge.
Rostered leaders are invited to vest & process. The color of the day is green.
We remember Pastor Norb's family and friends in our prayers and trust that the promise of the Resurrection is true and sure.
In Christ,
Bishop Sue Briner
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