Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd Founder Pastor Arthur H. Strege Dies

In the late 1950’s, North County development was booming. Families were moving to the area left-and-right, and religious institutions saw a need to build churches in the area.

Because of the population shift to the suburbs, the Board of Missions of the Western District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, brought in someone to get the denomination started in Hazelwood.

That person was Pastor Arthur H. Strege. He founded Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in the City of Hazelwood.

Strege died Monday, according to Hutchens, the mortuary handling his services. He was 85. 

About Strege's Legacy

Strege began the work of organizing a congregation in the Hazelwood area on July 1, 1958, according to the church's website.

Strege was commissioned as Missionary of the Western District in the Hazelwood area that same year. He would go door-to-door speaking with people, as one of the first tasks undertaken was a survey of the residents living in the area.

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The church had its first worship service October 5, 1958, with 131 people in attendance. The text for is first sermon was John 10: 14- 16, ‘I am the Good Shepherd,’ from which the congregation later took its official name, the site says.

The first worship services and Sunday School were held in the board meeting room of what was the Hazelwood Village Hall. The church also used Russell Elementary School for a little more than a year.

Strege retired in 1999 after 41 years with the church.

Services and Family

Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. today at Hutchens Mortuary, 675 Graham Road, Florissant. The funeral will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 7380 Howdershell Road. Burial will be in Our Redeemer Cemetery.

His wife, Lucille Strege, died in 2006.

Surviving family includes his daughter, Kathryn M. Hayes of Maywood, Ill.; two sons, Dr. David Strege of Town and Country and Jonathan Strege of Chesterfield; a brother, the Rev. Paul Strege of Affton; and nine grandchildren.