Armin Panning

Armin J. Panning, 87, of Port Washington, died Sunday, April 7, at Rainbow Hospice Care Inpatient Center in Johnson Creek.

Mr. Panning was born in New Ulm, Minn., on May 13, 1931, to William and Frieda Bode Panning.

He attended Dr. Martin Luther High School in New Ulm and Northwestern College in Watertown. Following his 1957 graduation from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Thiensville, he served as a tutor at Northwestern College.

In 1959, he was assigned to serve as pastor at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Escanaba, Mich., where he met and married Virginia Lee Nelson in 1961.

In 1962, Mr. Panning returned to teach at his alma mater in Watertown. He accepted a call to teach at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1975, additionally serving as its president from 1985 to 1996.

He retired from full-time teaching in 2001 and moved to Port Washington.

From its founding in 1993 until 2005, Mr. Panning was elected to various offices of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. He was Friendly Counselor to the Bulgarian Lutheran Church, living in Sofia from 2005 to 2006.

Mr. Panning is survived by his sons John (Judy) of Lake City, Iowa, James (Jennie) of Litchfield, Minn., Mark of Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa, and Joel of Milwaukee.

He is further survived by sister-in-law Dorothy (Roland) Panning of Gibbon, Minn.; brother Frederick (Doris) of Cambridge, Minn.; sisters Clarice (Don) Fastenau of St. James, Minn., and Norma (William) Roubik of Onalaska; and grandchildren Alyssa, David, Kathryn and Joseph.

He was preceded in death by his wife Virginia on March 30, 2015.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13, at Christ Alone (Calvary) Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thiensville.

The Rev. Martin Wildauer and the Rev. Don Scheuerlein will preside.

Visitation will be at the church Saturday from 9 a.m. until the service.

A service of Christian burial will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday at Lutheran Cemetery in Watertown.

Memorials to Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary’s Professor and Mrs. Armin Panning Student Scholarship Endowment Fund are suggested.

Poole Funeral Home, Port Washington, is handling the arrangements.