Paul Henry Pallmeyer

Reverend Paul Henry Pallmeyer, born October 27, 1924, died on July 26, 2026, at his home in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Paul was born in Huntington, New York, to Rev. Paul, Sr. and Mamie (Mueller) Pallmeyer. He served as a medic in the US Army during the Second World War in both Europe and Japan, graduated from Concordia College in Bronxville, New York, and from Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis, in 1951.

Paul married Ruth Marie Schrieber on June 2, 1951, the day after graduation, and they moved to Japan. (He often sang about taking a slow boat to China, but we don’t think it was quite that far.) He served as a missionary there for over five years, and welcomed their first three children. Coming back to the US, they added another three children to the family.

Paul served briefly as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Hartford, Connecticut, and for many years as a writer and editor for the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, in St. Louis. He also served as pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Barnhart, Missouri. In 1975, the Pallmeyers moved to the Twin Cities, as Paul was called to serve at the churchwide offices of the American Lutheran Church and then the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America where he worked until his retirement in 1989. Throughout his life he served the church, the community, his friends and family.

Paul cared tenderly for his wife Ruth in her final years and remained active throughout his life. Even at 101, he would walk every day, solve the Wordle and Spelling Bee, read a magazine or library book, follow the news and help a neighbor. Paul never tired of sharing the love of God, singing in full voice, playing a round of golf, tending a garden, sending letters to the editor, learning about new things, rooting for the Chicago Cubs, traveling the world, and caring for his family. He was the kind of guy who would eat pie for breakfast, read every word of the labels in a museum, and tell a joke with so much delight that he had to wipe tears of laughter from his face before he got to the punch line. His entire life was rooted in the grace and hope of God’s eternal love to which he steadfastly witnessed in a life of exuberant joy and faithfulness.

Preceded in death by his wife Ruth, his parents, his brother Luther and sister-in-law Gladys Pallmeyer, and his grandson Samuel Miller, Paul is survived by his children and their spouses, Barbara (William) Miller, Thomas Pallmeyer (Carol Phillips), Rebecca Pallmeyer (Dan McAdams), Dwight Pallmeyer, Sara (Jack) Nelson-Pallmeyer, Lois Pallmeyer (John Barnicle); his grandchildren, Adam (Jennifer) Miller, Aaron Miller (Amanda Hakemian), Kristen Pallmeyer (Jake Jackson), and Alyssa Pallmeyer (Joel Thomas-Mazyck); Ruth McAdams (Andrew Bozio), and Amanda (Jonathan) Bauer; Rachel Pallmeyer (Clarisse Wean) and Noah Pallmeyer (Kaeley O’Shea); Hannah Pallmeyer (Zack Mensinger), Audrey Pallmeyer, and Naomi (Justin) Betker; Madeline, Simon, and Miriam Barnicle (Thomas Young); great-grandchildren Zoe, Emily, Henry, Caleb, and Anne Miller, Everett and Quinten Bauer, Sullivan and Lumi Betker, his granddaughter-in-law, Angela Miller, his sisters-in-law Betty Pohland and Margaret Schrieber, and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 900 Stillwater Road, Mahtomedi, Minnesota 55115 on Monday, August 31, 11:00 a.m. Visitation at 10:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to ELCA World Hunger or Lutheran World Relief.