Wartburg Magazine
By Karris Golden '98

As editor, I enjoyed the "Wartburg Wedding Chapel" project a great
deal. The best thing was talking to alumni about their weddings. It
was a terrific opportunity to showcase Wartburg Chapel weddings,
which are the ultimate in "alumni events." It was also fun to take a
stroll down memory lane with the Rev. Larry Trachte, college pastor,
who has married A LOT of people in his day. The coolest thing about
the story was that I got to use a photo of PT from the wedding of his
daughter, Joy Trachte Becker '97. He walked her down the aisle, then
officiated at the wedding. The tough part was including as many
photos as possible while still telling the whole story about why a
Wartburg wedding is so special.

Karris Golden '98
Editor, Wartburg Magazine

The sight of the Eiffel Tower makes some couples teary-eyed, but the Wartburg Chapel is what brings a lump to Rachel Glesne Partello’s throat.

On Dec. 31, 1996, Darin Partello ’97 proposed to Rachel ’96 in the chapel. “He did a great job; he decorated and even sang to me,” she recalls. “The memories we have of the chapel are ones we will never forget.”

As a result, the chapel was a logical choice for the Partellos’ Aug. 2, 1997 wedding. “It was the start of our marriage from the beginning,” Rachel says. “We love Wartburg, and it and the chapel will always be a part of our marriage.”

In addition to getting an education, many students meet their future spouses at college. Because of this, on-campus weddings are common at colleges, and Wartburg is no exception, says the Rev. Larry Trachte ’66, college pastor. In the past eight years, the Wartburg Chapel hosted more than 120 weddings.

“I’m glad that in addition to traditional college functions, such as chapel and worship services, the facility has hosted so many weddings,” Trachte says. “Weddings are such happy occasions, and I’m pleased that the college can be the site of such events.”

The chapel, which opened in the spring of 1994, didn’t host its first wedding until May 27, 1995. That day, Bryan and Angie Hibbard ’91 Buffington moved their outdoor ceremony to the chapel following a storm that left six inches of standing water at their rural Waverly wedding site. They returned to the chapel in 2002, when Trachte officiated at the July 17 baptism of their daughter.

The Wartburg Chapel isn’t Nashua’s famed Little Brown Church, nor does it strive to be, Trachte says. However, he does think it’s important to offer students, alumni and college employees a place for their weddings.

“Wartburg weddings are mini-homecomings,” he says. “They bring a lot of people back to campus and are wonderfully positive, a real affirmation of the role college plays in our lives. Plus, the Wartburg Chapel is a special place for many of us; it’s holy ground.” While not open for outside weddings, the chapel is available for students, alumni, faculty and staff members and their children.

Before the college built the Wartburg Chapel, some students and alumni were married at area churches. Trachte says the churches were accommodating, often inviting him to assist. He has also traveled farther distances to officiate or assist at weddings, but he says it wasn’t the same as marrying a Wartburg couple on campus.

Cheryl Waltmann Lundsgaard ’91 holds the honor of being the first professor’s child to marry in the Wartburg Chapel. (Her father, Dr. August Waltmann ’64, retired in May 2003 after 34 years of teaching mathematics at the college.) She married Andrew Lundsgaard July 15, 1995.

“The Wartburg Chapel was the ideal place for my wedding,” she recalls. “Wartburg has been a part of my life since I was 6 months old. I have only missed two Homecomings since then.”

Cheryl’s wedding was a bit of a Homecoming, too. “The chapel represented to me Christian values, the Wartburg family I had grown up with, the community and my parent’s devotion and caring for the college and its people. These are all things that remain important to me,” she explains.

Andrew ’00 and Melissa Voss ’99 Brobston chose to marry in the chapel because they had attended many chapel services there.

“We wanted to make sure God was involved in our ceremony,” Melissa told the N’West Iowa Review in a 1999 article. “That was one of the most important parts to us.”

For some, the chapel offers common ground. Troy Smith ’94 came to Wartburg from Anamosa, and his bride, Lynn Litzer Smith ’94, is originally from Madison, Wis. As a result, the chapel was a crossroads at which their families could gather on June 15, 1996.

“Waverly was not the hometown for either one of us,” Lynn explains, “yet our families traveled from faraway to attend our wedding.”

The Wartburg wedding, at which Trachte officiated, also allowed the Rev. Daniel Litzer ’65, to “just be dad “ on Lynn’s special day.

Yet heat nearly wilted the momentous occasion. “The day before the wedding, the air conditioning in the chapel broke down,” Lynn recalls. “It was around 95 degrees, and so we were all kind of worried about the heat. They had to overnight a part to fix the air conditioning. It came in time for the rehearsal and the wedding – just in time to save the day!”

Unlike the Smiths, some families find it odd when students choose Wartburg over a hometown wedding. Yet Trachte believes it’s perfectly logical for students and alumni to get married on campus.

“(Students) most often have been away from their home congregation for four years. Maybe the pastor has changed, or maybe they haven’t remained active during college. For a student having a wedding at Wartburg, it’s meeting half way, a middle ground. Wartburg is a special place for them where they met many friends. It’s where the next step of their lives took them.”

Dan ’03 and Suzanne Just ’02 Schuknecht are one of the most recent couples to marry in the chapel, having exchanged vows Dec. 27, 2003.

“We decided to get married in the chapel because of the location for our families, the facilities it provided and the memories Wartburg holds for us,” says Suzanne.

In fact, the couple met under somewhat convoluted Wartburg circumstances.

Brenda DeWall ’74 roomed with Gail Cutler Kittleson ’72, and both married pastors. Nearly 25 years later, the former roommates introduced Suzanne, whose childhood pastor was Brenda’s husband, the Rev. Robert Dodge ’74, and Dan, whose pastor is Kitttleson’s husband, the Rev. Lance Kittleson. Pastor Dodge officiated at the Schuknechts’ wedding.

Trachte, who began his 30th year last fall, participated in the chapel dedication in 1994 and performed the wedding of his daughter, Joy ’97, there three years later. “It’s a beautiful facility, with the acoustics, organ, seating and natural light. Photographers love it, because it makes for wonderful and unique wedding pictures.”

Cheryl Lundsgaard couldn’t agree more. “My wedding was perfect,” she recalls. “With the large windows and an afternoon wedding, the chapel was filled with sunlight. I also enjoy the association my children now have with the chapel, Wartburg and the place their parents were married.”

In 1994, Trachte officiated at 20 weddings, a feat he won’t soon duplicate. In the summer of 2003, he presided over the marriages of more than 10 couples.

That’s quite a few, especially considering Trachte’s job description doesn’t specifically mention “wedding officiant.” He nonetheless relishes his duties and takes great care with each couple, getting to know them as individuals and as partners.

“I like to make sure that I focus on the couple on the weekend of the wedding,” he says. “That’s why I don’t like to do two in a weekend.”

Karris Golden '98 is the editor of Wartburg Magazine at Wartburg College.