Bio: Habeck, Irvin J., Pastor (1904)
Poster: R. Lipprandt
Email: bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Habeck, Schuetze, Seefeldt

----Source: The Centennial Booklet of Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church, 1876 - 1976, page 29

Habeck, Irvin J., Pastor (May 7, 1904)

Pastor Irvin J. Habeck was born in Winona, Minnesota, on May 7, 1904.

He graduated from Northwestern College in 1924 and from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, then located in Wauwatosa, in 1927.

Pastor Habeck was ordained and installed as pastor of the Minocqua-Woodruff congregation on July 31, 1927. In the evening of the same day, Zion’s congregation at Mercer was added to his duties.

On August 1, 1931, Pastor Habeck was married to Dorothy B. Seefeldt of Marinette at Forestville, Wisconsin. The marriage was blessed with two sons, John and Daniel.

In the fall of 1933, Pastor Habeck accepted a call as pastor to our congregation and served here until 1940. While here, he served briefly as Visiting Elder of the Wisconsin River Valley Conference.

During Pastor Habeck’s pastorate in Medford, plans for the re-establishing of our Christian Day School were begun in the construction of a new two-room school building in 1939.

In November of 1940, he was installed as pastor of St. Peter’s congregation at Weyauwega. While there, he served as Visiting Elder of the Winnebago Conference and from 1946 to 1950 as president of the Northern Wisconsin District.

In 1947, he was elected as second vice-president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and became first vice-president in 1950 and continued to serve until 1966.

In the fall of 1950, he accepted a call to Bethesda Church in Milwaukee. After Bethesda consolidated with Gloria Dei congregation, he continued to serve Gloria Dei - Bethesda, as co-pastor of the new congregation. During this period, he served a decade as a member of the Synod’s Commission on Doctrinal Matters.

In 1966, he accepted a call to the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, and was installed as professor on June 1, 1966, a position which he holds at this time. Professor Habeck teaches New Testament, Pastoral Theology and Homiletics. In addition to this position, he has served on the Board of Directors of Northwestern Publishing House, since 1969.

Together with Professor Armin Schuetze, he is co-author of a text book for pastoral theology, entitled “The Shepherd Under Christ,” which was published in 1974.

It is noteworthy to mention that Professor Habeck is the only surviving pastor of those who have served Immanuel’s Congregation in the past. He will be speaker on Centennial Sunday, September 26, exactly one hundred years to the day after Immanuel’s organization on September 26, 1876.