Wharton, George Franklin Rev. 1929 - 2020
WHARTON, SPENCER
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 2/21/2020 at 20:07:20
The Reverend George Franklin Wharton III died quietly in his room at Aase Haugen, early Sunday morning, January 26, 2020 at 7:58 AM, just in time for the Lord’s early service.
Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, February 1, 2020 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah with the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting and the Rev. Christine Gowdy-Jaehnig officiating. Visitation begins at 10:00 AM, one hour before the service.
“The twentieth of December 1929 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, 20 miles from the Gulf—It snowed that day.” This was George’s programmed response to “Date of birth?” Was that a foretaste of forty years in Northeast Iowa?
George was the only son of the Rev. George F. Wharton's Jr. and Fleda Spencer Wharton. Following high school, he enrolled at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN and graduated in 1951 with a major in Mathematics and Chemistry.
Hearing the call to the ministry, he enrolled at General Seminary, New York City, where he earned the Certificate in Theology and was ordained priest in 1956. For the next three years he served as assistant at St. Mark’s in Shreveport, LA. Queens College, Oxford was next. There he was awarded the Masters in Sacred Theology. Returning to the U.S., he accepted the call to serve as Vicar at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Shreveport, LA. It was during this time that he met Joseph Running and his wife Judy who were serving as organist/choir director at other churches in Shreveport. The three of them organized a very successful summer Bible-Choir-Camp. He then accepted a call as rector at Church of the Epiphany in Opelousas, LA and served that congregation until 1965.
In the summer of 1965, returning from a summer supply job in New York, he stopped in at his alma mater, the University of the South in Sewanee, to visit Judy and Joseph Running. Joseph’s niece, Marjorie, was there for the summer, studying piano with her uncle. George told them he had accepted a new call as Chaplain at St. Martin’s Episcopal Day School in Metairie, LA—a suburb of New Orleans.
Two months later, fall of 1966, Marjorie moved to New Orleans to study at Tulane University. She was not surprised to get a call from George the first week she was at Tulane. (Thank you, Uncle Joseph.) A diamond appeared on Valentine’s Day and wedding rings at Decorah Lutheran church on June 11, 1967.
They continued to live in Metairie. Their son Philip Daniel was born in New Orleans on April 9, 1969, and their daughter Julia Sophia on June 24, 1970. George began taking summer courses towards certification as a high-school math teacher. Having completed those requirements, he was able to combine teaching public school math along with serving small growing churches. In 1976, after the death of his mother, the family moved to Fairfield, IA where George served St. Peter’s Episcopal .
In 1979, the family moved to Decorah. In addition to serving Grace Episcopal, George also served St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Oelwein and taught math at Turkey Valley High School. While teaching there he enjoyed the vigor of the farming community and had many colorful stories of their strong family connections and names full of consonants. He was known for riding his bicycle to school and for organizing the planting of a grove of trees on Earth Day. The grove is still there.
Music was always close to his heart along with theology and family. When the children became interested in violin, George eagerly drove them to lessons, orchestra rehearsals, summer music camps, and encouraged them to go to good music schools. The addition of two violins to a hymn or service music became standard fare at Grace Church, Decorah.
George was the first to applaud when the children’s choir of five to ten children shared music in a service. He made certain their Christian education and confirmation was inspired and comprehensive. This is clear as many have grown up to contribute in their local Episcopal churches as servers, musicians, and faithful members.
Participating in the greater community was always important. George was a regular member of the Luren singers for many years. When the group toured Norway, he arranged for the whole family to join and extended the trip to explore the United Kingdom and meet his friends from Oxford.
Dedicated to the Church, to family, to education, and to music, George answered the call to serve his Lord.
Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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