Dr. Michael Heeley Wenning (July 5, 1935 – June 28, 2011) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n-born American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister. He served as the senior pastor at the Bel Air Presbyterian Church from 1995 to 2001. He gained national prominence when conducting President Ronald Reagan's state funeral.

Early life

Wenning was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He was educated at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

( Master of Divinity) in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(master's in both psychology and counseling).

Career

From 1969 to 1977, he was pastor of a Presbyterian church in Durban, South Africa. In 1977 he returned to the United States where he worked for the next three decades as a pastor in various

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

congregations. He served as the senior pastor at the Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian Church in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania more than nine years, between January 1977 and August 1986.

Reagan funeral

He was notably the senior pastor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church from 1995 to 2001. There he developed a close relationship with church members Ronald and Nancy Reagan. He notably conducted President Reagan's interment service on June 7, 2004 following the latter's death and state funeral.

Death

Wenning died in 2011, just one week before his 76th birthday, at his home in Mission Viejo, California from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

resulting from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. He is survived by his wife Freda and his two daughters.

References

External links

Michael Wenning - November 2010
- YouTube * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wenning, Michael 1935 births 2011 deaths American Presbyterian ministers New York University alumni People from Cape Town Texas Christian University alumni Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders South African emigrants to the United States Deaths from kidney failure Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in California