Rev. Leonard P. Buelow
September 30, 1925 — March 24, 2025
De Pere
The Rev. Leonard P. Buelow, a loved and respected pastor, teacher, husband, father, grandpa, uncle, and friend passed away ever-so-peacefully Monday morning, March 24 at the beautiful age of 99 years young. Born September 30, 1925 on a farm in rural Bonduel, WI, he was the second youngest of ten children born to Henry and Henrietta Buelow, having had three sisters and six brothers.
Leonard’s desire for ministry was evident early, though his education was cut short as he was pulled from school in the 9th grade to work on the family farm for the next seven years. At the age of 22, he began correspondence courses through the University of Wisconsin Extension in Madison, and re-enrolled at Shawano High School, completing his entire four year high school curriculum in just nine months, and graduating in the spring of 1948.
That fall, he enrolled at Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois. At the time, the first two years were college years on the campus, followed by the three seminary years plus a final year of vicarage. He vicared at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Providence, Rhode Island in 1952-1953, where he met the love of his life, Carola Reichelt.
Upon his graduation from seminary, Leonard and Carola were married in June of 1954 and began their life-long love of ministry, family, and travel together. A year of post-graduate studies followed at the Lutherische Theologische Hochschule in Oberursel, Germany, during which he and Carola not only toured many exciting places in West Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, as well as Rome and Pompeii in Italy, but they also welcomed the birth of their daughter. Three sons would follow over the next six years.
Upon returning to the United States in 1955, Leonard began 66 years of continuous and unwavering commitment and service to the Lord, fulfilling leadership roles at the local, circuit, district, and synodical levels, and accepting pastoral calls to serve four congregations: St James Lutheran Church in Shawano (1955-1965), Redeemer Lutheran Church in Green Bay (1965-1992), Christ the King Lutheran Church in Green Bay (1992-2013), and Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in Green Bay (2013-2021).
Through the years, Leonard and Carola valued their time together and their love of travel, visiting all fifty states including Alaska and Hawaii, and nearly all of the provinces of Canada. They studied the Spanish language together for several years in preparation for their tour of Mexico, and in 1996, Leonard was honored to be selected to be a guest teacher at the Lutheran Theological University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, a position that allowed them to experience the culture and share the Gospel in Central Asia.
Additional adventures found them exploring the South Pacific regions of Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti, before heading to the Holy Land and Middle Eastern countries of Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Greece, with detours in England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
Upon his retirement at age 96, Leonard and Carola began plans to downsize, moving first to Bellevue Senior Living in Green Bay, and finally settling in at the Rennes senior community in De Pere.
In addition to Carola, his wife of 70 years, Leonard is survived by his four children, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Leonard is further survived by nieces and nephews, along with many friends, ministry associates, and fellow members of Lions Clubs International, where Leonard held active membership for 66 years and was the recipient of the distinguished Melvin Jones Fellowship Award for Exceptional Service, the highest individual honor bestowed by the organization.
Visitation was held Tuesday, April 1 at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Suamico, with a memorial service at 11am. A short committal service was held afterwards at Woodlawn Cemetery in Shawano.
Special thanks to the kind and caring staff of Unity, and Rennes Health and Rehab.
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Please know that memorials will be used to offset the cost of publication of Leonard’s second book, a faith-filled collection of daily devotions scheduled for release later this year, as well as the maintenance of his web evangelism project, which since 2013 has reached tens of thousands of readers in over 130 countries.
The memorial service for Rev. Leonard P. Buelow was also livestreamed for anyone unable to attend in person: