THE DEATH OF THE REVEREND ROBERT GRAETZ, JR

Pastor Robert Graetz, Jr., died peacefully on Sunday, September 20, 2020, in his Montgomery home. A memorial service was live-streamed @ https://youtu.be/by5qA5AA0g on September 27th at 2 PM from the First Baptist Brick-A-Day Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to the Graetz Foundation at 1558 Dunbar St., Montgomery, AL 36106, or the Foundation's fund for the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture @ www.alasu.edu/giving or mailed to P.O. Box 1046, Montgomery, AL. 36101.

Pastor Robert was born in Clarksburg, WV, on May 16, 1928, and raised in Charlestown, WV, with his beloved sister, Suzanne.

He earned his B.A. degree at in Columbus, Ohio, where he first met Jean Ellis and married her in 1951. He was ordained in 1955.

He served at Community Lutheran Church in L.A., CA, Trinity in Montgomery, AL, (where he helped as an organizer of the ), Saint Phillips in Columbus, Ohio, Saint James in Wash., D.C., Christ the King in Columbus, Ohio, and Saint John in Logan, Ohio. He was a legislative agent for the Ohio Council of Churches for 13 years. He worked for the Conference of Inner City Ministries with the Department of Metropolitan Ministries in Wash., D.C. In 2005, they returned to Montgomery, AL, where they served as consultants for the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African America Culture at A.S.U.

In 1955, as civil rights activists began spreading the word about a plan for Black residents to boycott the city bus in protest, Pr. Graetz encouraged his congregation at the majority-Black Trinity Lutheran Church to join the boycott. He offered rides to work to anyone who needed them. Graetz’s public support of the bus boycott was rare among white southerners, and he was the only white minister in Montgomery to risk violence and condemnation by making a public stand in support of the boycott. In response to Graetz’s work with the bus boycott, detractors bombed his home twice, as well as threatening his young children, slashing his tires, and pouring sugar in his gas tank. Pastor Robert was the author of "A White Preacher's Memoir: The Montgomery Bus Boycott" and "A White Preacher's Message on Race and Reconciliation".

Condolences: to the family, may be left here, on the Legacy.com website: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/robert-graetz-obituary?pid=196828913

PO Box 400, Decatur, GA · 404-589-1977 · fax 404-521-1980 · www.elca-ses.org

H-12