REV.ALFRED H. DELETZKE.
Rev. Alfred H. Deletzke, pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, of Grant township, Guthrie county, for the past five years, has had a most interesting career. It is a career which has been filled with service of a most lasting and important kind. Highly educated for the ministerial profession, Reverend Deletzke having consecrated his life to the spread of the gospel, has worked unceasingly in the Master's vineyard and of his work it may be truly said that it has not been in vain. He has ministered to many people and, without exception, has brought into their lives the example of a noble-minded, self-denying and self-sacrificing Christian gentleman.
Alfred H. Deletzke was born on February 24, 1869, in Dodge county, Wisconsin, the son of Henry and Emily (Hensel) Deletzke, natives of the province of Posen, Germany. They were farmers in their native land and came to the United States in 1867 or 1868, and were married in Dodge county, Wisconsin. At that time the father worked in the iron smelting factories of Iron Ridge. In the spring of 1871 he purchased a timber farm in Shawano county, Wisconsin, where he and his wife lived until their deaths. They were the parents of five children: Alfred H., Hulda, Clara, Theodore and Amanda.
After living at home until he was fourteen years old, and attending the common schools until that age, Alfred H. Deletzke went to Wittenberg, Wisconsin, where he studied the classical languages. Subsequently, he settled in Milwaukee for three years, and in 1887 he went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he attended Concordia College, being graduated with the class of 1889. After leaving Fort Wayne, he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he studied for three years in Concordia Seminary, being graduated there with the class of 1892.
After completing his classical and religious education and training. Rev. Alfred H. Deletzke accepted a call as a missionary in McCook and surrounding counties of western Nebraska. After being stationed there almost three years, he was called to Spencer, Iowa, where he served as a missionary and also had a small congregation. From Spencer, Iowa, where he remained for seven and one-half years, he was called to the vicinity of Ft. Dodge, Iowa, where he was pastor of a congregation for another seven and one-half years. Rev. Deletzke then became superintendent of the orphans' asylum at Ft. Dodge and in that capacity, traveled over the entire state of Iowa in search of homes for children. After filling that office for two years, he was called to his present field, the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, of Grant township, Guthrie county, Iowa. This church is located on the Audubon-Guthrie county line. Reverend Deletzke accepted the call in May, 1910, and has filled the pulpit of this church since that time. He is an eloquent preacher and a pastor who is popular with his congregation.
On May 15, 1894, Alfred H. Deletzke was married, in Nebraska, to Emma Grovert, who was born on January 29, 1876, in Benton county, Iowa, and who is a daughter of Henry and Ernestine (Ferch) Grovert. They were natives of Germany, the former of Holstein and the latter of Posen, who came to the United States in 1868, and located in Davenport, Iowa. Later they moved to Benton county, Iowa, and in 1888 moved to Nebraska, where they purchased land in Hitchcock county, near Trenton. Here they still live.
Rev. Alfred H. Deletzke and wife have had seven children, namely: Alfred, born on July 19, 1895; Ada, August 24, 1897; Elsie, August 11, 1899; Florence, June 20, 1902; Thelma, October 5, 1904; Norman, August 5, 1908; and Irma, October 1, 1912. The first three children were born at Spencer, Iowa, the next three at Ft. Dodge and the youngest in Audubon county.
Although Rev. Deletzke is a Republican in politics, he has never held office nor has he ever aspired to office. Nevertheless, he takes an active interest in public affairs and is considered a wise and efficient counsellor on public questions. He is well informed on political and social questions and has been especially helpful in developing a better community spirit in this section of the state.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 801-803.
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