Reverend Dr. Allen Henry Nauss

1923-2024

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14

Allen, born November 5th, 1923, to the Reverend John and Amanda Nauss in Fargo, North Dakota, was the fourth of five boys. His childhood included both fun and studies: reading his father’s books and skipping second grade, concocting chewing gum from the tar on the streets, and printing his own newspaper (gleaning news from the radio) with a boyhood friend, who helped him market it for less than the going rate of the papers at that time.

At age 13, Allen left home to attend an LCMS high school in Portland, Oregon. He further pursued education and ministry by attending and graduating from the St. Louis seminary and eventually earned his master’s degree from the University of Oregon and his PhD from the University of Missouri.

While acting as Dean of Students at St. Paul’s College in Concordia, Missouri, Allen met his beautiful future wife, Vicki Hinck, and the two wed on August 24th, 1958. (If you do the math, the two celebrated 66 years of marriage just over a month ago.) Along with Vicki and their four children, Allen served and lived at Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois; took a sabbatical in Seattle, Washington in 1970; moved with the seminary to Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1976, and ended up in southern California at Christ College Irvine in 1978, retiring in 1988.

Allen’s love for counseling and learning and researching ministerial effectiveness was punctuated with musical interludes, as the “Nauss Family Singers” performed at over 100 gatherings in the seventies and eighties. His deep voice resonated in the many choirs his gifted wife directed and in Christian performances and engagements where many commented that he’d make a great radio announcer.

Retirement didn’t stop Allen. He loved color and nature and stopping at noted parks and monuments and mountains (specifically Mount Rainier in WA—his favorite), and his fast walking kept him in good stride even into his last days, where he traversed up and down his home hallway with his walker. And how many people’s biographies include authoring three books in their nineties? His last book, Your Spiritual Brain, was published the year he clocked one hundred years of life.

A lifelong learner and listener, Allen’s top priorities were family and Jesus. Not only did he write books, he kept up his weekly Monday Missive emails to his family, only sunsetting them a few months ago. His children also testify to purposefully eavesdropping on their parents’ nightly prayers, listening to heartfelt pleas for family members and loved ones. When physically separated, the two would call and pray over the phone, placing every need into the loving hands of their Lord and Savior. Even when breathing became difficult, the prayers did not cease.

Allen’s victorious entrance into heaven on Sunday, September 29th was preceded by his parents—and three of his brothers and their wives: Harold (Lillian) Nauss, Victor (Edythe) Nauss and Milton (Eleanor) Nauss.

Missing Allen are his loving bride, Victoria; his daughters, Ellen (Jon) Pelzer, Ruth (Jeff) Stingley and Vikki (Greg) Sparks; his son John (Andrea) Nauss and foster son Jack (Maria) English; his brother, Benjamin (Marilyn) Nauss—age 99); twelve grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and his many nieces and nephews.

One well-worn plaque had its place on his desk, and it exemplified Allen:

“There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go

if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

With one additional stipulation (that Allen believed with all his heart)

for one to make an eternal impact:

IF GOD ALONE GETS THE GLORY

“’Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?’

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:55-57

(written by Ruth Stingley)

Cards can be sent to:

The Nauss home - 261 N. Malena Dr, Orange, CA 92869

Memorial Gifts can be sent to:

Tian Shan Mission Society, Inc. - 1020 East Ramon Road, Palm Springs, CA 92264 (mission focus is on an unreached people group in Central Asia) or

Trinity Cristo Rey Lutheran Church - 902 S. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 92701.