Dr. Silas Kessler

Hastings resident, Dr. Silas G. Kessler, 100, passed away Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at The Kensington, Hastings, Nebraska.

Memorial services will be Saturday, November 19, 2011; 11:00 A.M. at First Presbyterian Church, Hastings, with Rev. Stanley R. Kessler and Rev. Dr. William Nottage-Tacey officiating. A private family burial will be held in Parkview Cemetery, Hastings. There will be no viewing or visitation. There will be a book signing Friday, November 18, 2011; 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. at the funeral home, and one hour prior to service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to First Presbyterian Church of Hastings, Hastings College, or Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital Hospice program.

Dr. Silas G. Kessler, D.D., Pastor Emeritus of the First Presbyterian Church of Hastings, died on Tuesday, November 15, 2011, at his residence, The Kensington. He was born on August 29, 1911, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of the Rev. Jacob G. Kessler and his wife Lena (Hoffman). The family moved to Illinois the year after he was born. His elementary education was received in a one room schoolhouse in Illinois and attended high school at George, Iowa, graduating in 1928. The family moved to Dubuque, Iowa, and there he received his secondary education and then graduated from the University of Dubuque in 1932, going on to earn the degree of Master of Theology from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 1934. The Seminary conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1941. He began the practice of ministry while yet in seminary and upon his graduation and his ordination by the Presbytery of George (in the Synod of the West) in 1934, he became the Pastor of the Sharon Presbyterian Church in Farmington, Iowa, yoked with the West Point Presbyterian Church near by. In 1937, he became the Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Fullerton, Nebraska. In 1940 he received the call to serve as Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Hastings, which he continued to serve for the next 36 years, until his retirement in 1976. Dr. Kessler served the larger church in a variety of ways, beginning with the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, serving as a member or Board Chairman from 1951 to 1965. As a member of that Board he was also, for ten years, the chairman of the National Presbyterian Scholarship Committee. In 1963, Dr. Kessler was encouraged by the Rev. Leslie Sweetland, then the Associate Minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Hastings, to become a candidate for the highest elective office in the denomination and, meeting that year in Des Moines, Iowa, Dr. Kessler was elected to the office of Moderator of the 175th General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church of the United States of America. As Moderator, Dr. Kessler traveled more than 100,000 miles for appearances at many Churches within these United States and abroad. It was his privilege, as Moderator, to preach the inaugural sermon for the Presbyterian Church of Brazil and to serve as a leader of a seminar for Coptic Christians in Cairo, Egypt. When the denomination decided to realign the boundaries of its synods and presbyteries to become more efficient and effective in ministry in 1973, Dr. Kessler served as the chairman of the committee of those presbyteries which came to constitute the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. He was elected to serve as its first Moderator. He has served as moderator at every level of the denomination: moderator of Session, Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly. During his 36 years of service in Hastings, he also took advantage of continuing education opportunities offered at Mansfield College, Oxford, and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, as well as teaching many courses in the Synod Schools sponsored by the Synod of Nebraska and, later, the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. Following retirement from his pastorate in Hastings, Dr. Kessler engaged in fifteen years of Interim Ministry, serving Churches between the resignation of one Pastor and their calling of another. In this ministry, Dr. Kessler, along with his wife, Ruth, served congregations in New Mexico, Wyoming, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska; giving a year of ministerial service to the Dundee Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of the Cross, both in Omaha, and six months of service to the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lincoln. Dr. Kessler also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Hastings College (for 59 years), the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary Board, the Omaha Seminary Foundation Board, and the Board of Clark-Jeary Retirement Center. He enjoyed serving as a volunteer tutor with the Hastings Literacy Council.

Silas was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Paul Kessler; sister, Lydia Sturman (Mrs. Jack); wife, Ruth; and their daughter, Eleanor Wilson.

Survivors include:
Son & Spouse: Stanley & Judy Kessler - Kendallville, IN
Grandchildren & Spouses: Allen & Jill Wilson - Dallas, TX
Children: Jack & Silas Wilson
Susan & Steve Hill - Lincoln, NE
Children: Owen, Ellie & Henry Hill
Michael & Katrina Wilson - Lake Stevens, WA
Benjamin & Andrea Kessler - Lincoln, NE
Children: Lars, Jonas & Helena Kessler
Matthew & Amy Kessler - St. Louis, MO
Children: Linus & Hazel Kessler