Herbert W. Tobaben | Lutheran minister, 91

The Rev. Herbert W. Tobaben, 91, a Lutheran pastor for nearly four decades, died of heart failure July 7 in a retirement center in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he had moved in 1990 to be near family.

Raised in Kensington, Pastor Tobaben graduated in 1934 from Frankford High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1938 from Temple University. "My father followed a calling he first recognized as a young boy," said his son, Richard.

He entered Mount Airy Lutheran Seminary and was ordained in 1942, when he also earned a master's degree in sacred theology. "My father wrote his thesis on the religious life of Confederate soldiers," his son said.

Pastor Tobaben married Ethel Schultz, and the couple raised two children.

Pastor Tobaben served rural parishes in the Lehigh Valley for seven years before becoming pastor at St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Kensington.In 1966, Pastor Tobaben became minister at Redemption Lutheran Church in the Northeast, where he had been confirmed decades before.

He retired in 1982 but worked as interim pastor at several churches in Philadelphia before retiring for good in 1990.

That year, he and his wife moved to Winston-Salem to be near their family.

Pastor Tobaben played the harmonica and sang with a group called the Trubadors.

"He had a great sense of humor," his son said. He also enjoyed golf and bowling.

In addition to his son and wife, Pastor Tobaben is survived by a daughter, Janet Buerklin; two grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Services were Friday.

Memorial donations may be sent to Lutheran World Relief, Box 17061, Baltimore, Md. 21298-9832.