Dr. Michael Heeley Wenning (July 5, 1935 – June 28, 2011) was a
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
n-born
American Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
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.
Early life
Wenning was born in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
.
He was educated at
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...
(
Master of Divinity) in
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...
and
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
(master's in both psychology and counseling).
Career
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.)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...
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.
Reagan funeral
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.
Death
Wenning died in 2011, just one week before his 76th birthday, at his home in
Mission Viejo, California from
kidney failure
Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...
resulting from
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
.
He is survived by his wife Freda and his two daughters.
References
External links
Michael Wenning - November 2010- YouTube
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenning, Michael
1935 births
2011 deaths
American Presbyterian ministers
New York University alumni
People from Cape Town
Texas Christian University alumni
Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders
South African emigrants to the United States
Deaths from kidney failure
Deaths from leukemia
Deaths from cancer in California