Retired Lutheran Pastor Charles Boomhower Dies at 73

Charles Ezra Boomhower, born January 15, 1947, died November 30, 2020, according to an obituary published by Hogenkamp Funeral Homes. He was the son of Cecelia (Prespare) and Everett Boomhower and grew up in Cropseyville, New York, in a home his father and grandfather created in a renovated church after selling their family farm. He was active in the Boy Scouts, worked in the kitchen at the local Boy Scout camp during summers, and earned the rank of Eagle Scout shortly before turning eighteen.

Boomhower graduated from Tamarac High School and, with a scholarship for Eagle Scouts, attended Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska. He was the first in his family to attend college. He then followed a calling to the ministry with the Lutheran Church in America and attended Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. There he met Rosemary Fellers, who became his wife of 49 years.

The couple moved to Valatie, New York, in 1973, where Boomhower was called to pastor St. Luke Lutheran Church and Emanuel Lutheran Church in Stuyvesant Falls, New York. Their sons Matthew, born in 1973, and Daniel, born in 1976, were welcomed while the family lived in Valatie. In 1977 Boomhower began serving as pastor of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Holgate, Ohio, and their son John was born the following year.

In 1985 he continued his ministry at Grace Lutheran Church in Steubenville, Ohio. Toward the end of that tenure, he also served as interim pastor of St. John Lutheran Church and helped lay the foundation for the integration of the two ELCA congregations in the community, a process the obituary says expanded Grace’s ministry and allowed both congregations to continue serving their faith and community together (Psalm 133:1). In 1995 he began as co-pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Greenville, Ohio, and would eventually help lead that congregation toward a new leadership model after his resignation.

From 2007 to 2010 he served First English Lutheran Church in Ashville, Ohio. He then guided the Wabash Valley Cooperative Ministry, which the obituary lists as St. Paul Lutheran in Coldwater, Ohio; Trinity Lutheran in Ft. Recovery, Ohio; St. James Lutheran in Salamonia, Indiana; and St. Paul Lutheran in Rockford, Ohio. He retired from active ministry in 2013. In retirement he served as interim pastor and supply preacher at several churches in the Northwest Ohio Synod of the ELCA.

Boomhower also held adult leadership roles in Boy Scout troops and districts. His service was recognized with the Silver Beaver Award from the Chief Logan District of the Ohio River Valley Council, and each of his three sons also earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He volunteered and served on the boards of community organizations during his career and in retirement, and he valued his friendships with clergy from a range of faith traditions.

He is survived by his wife, Rosemary; his sons Matthew, Daniel, and John and their families; his sisters Joyce Duncan and June Boomhower; and numerous nieces and nephews. The obituary also names his sister-in-law Ardith (Ardie) Boomhower, his brother-in-law John Fellers, and his sister-in-law Ilaria Fellers. He was predeceased by his father, his mother, and his brother Gene. The family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Seminary Scholarship Fund at St. John Lutheran Church in Celina, Ohio, or to a charity of the donor’s choice. A memorial service was to be live streamed on Monday, December 14, at 6:30 p.m. on the Purple Door Church Celina YouTube channel.

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