Rev. Leif A. Pohl

Dear Andy and family,
I want to let you know that Jim and I are praying for you and your family during this very difficult time of loss. We will continue to hold your family up in prayer. I personally know how difficult it is to lose a parent and God knows our loss and He will carry you through this time of pain and sorrow. Proverbs 3:5-6
In Christian love,
Connie and Jim Gifford

Dear Jan and Family,

I plan to be present at Thursday's liturgy to join with you in giving thanks to God for Leif's life and faith through which Christ has touched us all.

John J. Santoro +

Pastor Pohl was a blessing to me and is indeed missed, but I'm happy that while he
is now absent in the body, he is present with the Lord. He exemplified for me Christ's
love for the church and His people. Pastor was always there when our family needed
support and to be uplifted in prayer. I truly enjoyed the times I spoke with him about
the Scriptures and he imparted to me a greater knowledge of God's Word that I will always
be grateful for. I'll remember his big smile, his welcoming handshake, his words
of comfort and encouragement, the joy I could see in his face when the children gathered
around him for a Bible story, his genuine love for all people and his voice calling out
at the end of the service, Go in Peace. Thank you Jesus for placing Pastor Pohl in
our families lives.

Jan and family,

I received the very sad news of Leif's death on Tuesday afternoon. If I didn't have a funeral tomorrow I would be there for the funeral. We have a call presently south of Green Bay Wisconsin about 50 miles in a little town called Valders.

Leif was my internship supervisor in 1987 and 1988. During that year I was convinced (and the seminary faculty was convinced!) that I could be an effective and caring pastor in the ELCA. Leif was a masterful supervisor. He brought a love for the parish ministry, an astuteness about the politics of congregational life, a keen intellect and a confident personality all to bear in his work with me, and in his parish ministry. It always amazed me how clearly a botany major could so understand matters of faith and life.

When we moved into Muscatine Leif was there greeting my family. I think it was Matthew's birthday and we were broke. Leif went out and bought a red truck for Matt. It was one of the most thoughtful things a man ever did for me. It was the best $10 Leif ever spent in my opinion!

It may be that in the next year our congregation will add staff. I have seriously been thinking of an internship program. In large part because I had such a great year with Leif and Grace Lutheran in Muscatine. I'm very glad that Paul Werger is a part of the service. He was my first bishop and I thought the world of him. He was the most approachable yet authoritative bishop I have met.

It is sad that Leif died the day of your anniversary Jan. Your message of love and faith in his final hour is a living tribute to your marriage and the faith you both witnessed to in your life together as a clergy family. God has a special place in heaven for pastors' spouses.

Children, your father was a wonderful man and a great Christian pastor. He possessed a warm humanity for people in his charge, and a great capacity to hold to the basics of the faith. I sitll use some of his illustrations in my weddings and in my funeral sermons. I loved his messiness and his smoking habit, though not acceptable today, was in a real sense a statement that God brings us home, not our healthy or our holy habits. Leif was a human being and he never pretended to be anything else. That to me is a powerful form of humility. My dad died at the age of 63 of blood cancer. I know that through the years you will miss your father, sometimes terribly. When those times come just let it be because the communion of saints will be yours.

Leif is now living in the church triumphant, a blessing there and still a blessing to we who still feebly struggle.

Farewell to a colleague and a friend,

Rev. Lauren R. Ley

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