Rev. Ronald F Astalos

The Reverend Ronald F. Astalos, 81, of Port Huron went home to be with his Lord and Saviour on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

He was born November 15, 1934 in Monroe to the late Steve and Caroline Astalos. He married Kimiko Araki on December 28, 1958 in Monroe, Michigan after she received special authorization from Congress and President Dwight Eisenhower to come to the United States to be married.

Pastor Astalos graduated from Monroe High School in 1953 and served as a Korean translator in the U.S. Army before graduating from Valparaiso University in 1960 and Concordia Theological Seminary in 1962. After graduation, he served as a missionary in Tokyo, Japan for 14 years at Roppongi Lutheran Church and Kawasaki Lutheran Church. In 1976, he returned to the U.S. to serve at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Detroit. In 1981, he was called to Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Clair. In 1983 Concordia Theological Seminary presented him with the Servus Ecclesiae Christi award for effective ministry among God’s people in today’s world. In 1988, Pastor Astalos was called back to Japan to serve as a missionary to Okinawa. Back in the U.S. in 1993, he accepted the call to pastor Bethesda Lutheran Church in Chicago. Pastor Astalos also served on the Mission Board for the Michigan District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, was chairman of its Church Planting Committee, pastoral adviser for the Michigan Southeast District and Northern Illinois District Lutheran Laymen’s League and from 1994 until his retirement in 1999 was counselor for the North Chicago Circuit.

He is survived by his wife, Kimiko; five children, Jesse Astalos, Mitchell Astalos, Lynn Astalos, Ellen Johnson and Julie Buckbee; eleven grandchildren, Aaron and Sarah Astalos, Nicholas and Kobi Astalos, Cayman and Keana Astalos, Ella, Alicia, Chloe, Jack, and Kenji Johnson; two brothers, Richard and Robert Astalos ; a sister, Patricia Wangen; and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be 2-4 & 6-8 p.m. Sunday in Pollock-Randall Funeral Home.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, August 22, 2016 in Trinity Lutheran Church with visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m. The Reverend Dr. Mark J. Madson will officiate.

Burial will be in Riverlawn Cemetery, Marysville. Military honors will be conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Army and the St. Clair County Allied Veterans Honor Guard.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church. To send condolences, visit pollockrandall.com