The Reverend Gerry Wayne Mohr, 83, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, passed away peacefully on Friday, August 7, 2026, after a seventeen-year journey with Alzheimer's disease that he faced with quiet courage. Born June 5, 1943, in East Los Angeles, California, to Wayne Seeman Mohr and Kathleen Marie Mohr (Brighton), Gerry lived a life defined less by where he went than by how fully he loved the people around him.
Gerry graduated from Lutheran High School in Los Angeles in 1960, then headed east to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, where he pledged Pi Kappa Alpha. He eventually made his way back home to the University of Southern California, earning his Bachelor of Science degree, then stayed on for his Master of Science. Gerry was a sharp thinker and a natural writer, and he was well on his way to a PhD when he felt called toward something different. At heart, he was a scholar and an intellectual, and that never left him — as both a teacher and later a pastor, he relished a good philosophical or theological conversation and could talk for hours about the questions that mattered most to him.
Above all else, Gerry was a man deeply in love with his wife. He met Mary Kay Olson, and on September 17, 1961, in Van Nuys, California, he married her — the beginning of 65 years together. He wasn't one for grand, outward gestures; his love showed itself more quietly, in the letters, poems, and cards he wrote to her privately over the decades, just for her, simply because he wanted her to know how he felt. Every Christmas, he'd slip the cleverest, funniest sentiments onto Mary Kay's gift tags — a habit carried on by other members of the family. More than 30 years later, it's still part of how their family celebrates Christmas. That same devotion carried into everything he did for his children and grandchildren — Gerry had a rare gift for making the people he loved feel truly seen.
Service was at the center of Gerry's life. Before entering the ministry, he worked as a teacher in Southern California. In 1974, he felt called to ministry and moved his young family from Pasadena to Springfield, Illinois, for seminary, earning his Master of Divinity and being ordained in 1977 — an ordination he carried for 49 years, until his death. He served as a pastor for 33 years, living the last 28 of those years in Findlay, Ohio, where he closed out his pastoral career at Concordia Lutheran Church. There, he was also involved with the Japanese-English Language and Cultural Fellowship, and treasured the many great conversations he shared in that group over the years. He and Mary Kay retired to Fort Wayne in 2010, though retirement never quite stuck — several days a week you could find him at Concordia Theological Seminary, not on staff but simply showing up because he loved it, tutoring and mentoring foreign pastors and helping them work through their dissertations and coursework. That instinct to open their home to others went back even further: early in their marriage, Gerry and Mary Kay hosted AFS foreign exchange students for a full year at a time, along with several more for shorter stays.
Depending on which grandchild you asked, he was “Grandpa” or “Opa” — but every one of them would tell you he brought real playfulness to that role. He had a gift for figuring out exactly what each grandchild cared about, then quietly finding a way to be part of it: sitting in the bleachers with a thermos of tea at a Little League game, getting tickets to a theatrical music production at the Country Day School so a grandchild could experience Beethoven's music firsthand, or settling in for a good game of checkers, chess, or cards. He loved reading to his grandchildren, too, bringing stories to life with the voices and expression he gave each character.
Gerry was a lifelong reader and a lover of classical music above all — though his record collection ranged widely, from Mahalia Jackson and Burl Ives to The Platters and Neil Young. He loved singing hymns from the old blue Lutheran Hymnal, and when he heard “Beautiful Savior” or “The King of Love My Shepherd Is,” you could count on him singing or humming along. He was always genuinely interested in people — he loved learning about others, asking questions, and hearing their stories. That same curiosity carried into his love of travel; he and Mary Kay visited 49 of the 50 states together, along with destinations abroad, always eager to see and learn something new.
As Alzheimer's slowly took his ability to read and write, something in him held on. He spent his last four years at a memory care facility in Fort Wayne, surrounded by people who cared for him well. Even then, he was often found in his wheelchair with a big smile and a genuine laugh — still, in his own quiet way, a comfort to everyone around him.
Gerry was preceded in death by his parents, Wayne and Kathleen, and all four of his brothers: Lynn Charles, Donald Arlen, Jeffery Owen, and Philip Lee.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Kay Mohr; his children, Natalie (Cesar) Marquez, David (Denise) Mohr, Michael (Regina) Mohr, and Kathleen (Kennon) Crymble; and his honorary son, Bart (Rachel) Rice. His sons-in-law knew him as “Gerr-Bear” and “Mr. Mohr” — names he wore proudly. He also leaves behind eight grandchildren he adored — Matthew Hardman, Cesar Marquez II, Rachel Mohr, Caleb Mohr, Ian Mohr, Gavin Mohr, Carter Crymble, and Kaylee Crymble — and two great-grandchildren, Tyler and Trace Hardman. He leaves behind a wide extended family, former colleagues, and countless people whose lives he touched over decades of faithful ministry.
Service Details:
• Calling/Visitation: Saturday, August 29, 2026, beginning at 10:00 AM at Ascension Lutheran Church, 8811 St. Joe Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46835, with funeral service to follow at 11:00 AM.
• Fellowship: A luncheon for family and friends will immediately follow the service at the church.
• Arrangements entrusted to Fairhaven Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
Contributions can be made to the Fire Relief Fund at Historic First Lutheran Church, 808 N. Los Robles Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91104. Checks may be made payable to Historic First Lutheran Church, with “Fire Relief Fund” or “Rev. Gerry Mohr Memorial Fund” noted in the memo line.