Michael Wenning
| Michael Wenning | |
|---|---|
Wenning delivering the invocation at the funeral of Ronald Reagan, June 2004
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| Senior pastor of the Bel Air Presbyterian Church | |
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In office 1995–2001 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Michael Heeley Wenning July 5, 1935 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Died | June 28, 2011 (aged 75) Mission Viejo, California, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Freda Wenning (?-2011; his death) |
| Alma mater |
Texas Christian University, New York University |
Dr. Michael Heeley Wenning (July 5, 1935 – June 28, 2011) was a South African-born American Presbyterian minister. He served as the senior pastor at the Bel Air Presbyterian Church from 1995 to 2001. He gained national prominence when conducting President Ronald Reagan's state funeral.
Wenning was born in Cape Town. He was educated at Texas Christian University (Master of Divinity) in Fort Worth, Texas and New York University (master's in both psychology and counseling).
From 1969 to 1977, he was pastor of a Presbyterian church in Durban, South Africa. In 1977 he returned to the United States where he worked for the next three decades as a pastor in various Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations. He served as the senior pastor at the Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian Church in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania more than nine years, between January 1977 and August 1986.
He was notably the senior pastor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church from 1995 to 2001. There he developed a close relationship with church members Ronald and Nancy Reagan. He notably conducted President Reagan's interment service on June 7, 2004 following the latter's death and state funeral.
Wenning died in 2011, just one week before his 76th birthday, at his home in Mission Viejo, California from kidney failure resulting from leukemia. He was survived by his wife Freda and his two daughters. His remains were soon cremated.
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