The Rev. Dr. Dennis A. Kastens
May 10, 1939 – March 30, 2026
Dennis Allen Kastens was born May 10, 1939, near Ludell, Kansas to Harry and Paula née Neuhart Kastens. On May 13, 1939, he was baptized by Pastor Schmidt of Trinity Lutheran Church, Ludell, where he later also confirmed his faith, March 29, 1953. After public school attendance through 5th grade, he was a student for grades 6-8 at Trinity Lutheran parochial school. In 1957, he graduated from Atwood Community High School, Atwood, Kansas.
He then attended St. John’s College, Winfield, Kansas, and Concordia Senior College, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, prior to enrollment at Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri, where he graduated with an M.Div in 1965 and received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt, D.,) in 2000.
On June 12, 1965, at St. Matthew’s Lutheran, Saint Louis, Missouri, he married Alice Christine Nobe with whom he enjoyed 60 years in the nuptial estate. Into their home came two children, who with their families survive. They are John W. (Carmen) Kastens and Mark A.E. (Amy) Kastens. Also surviving are the grandchildren: Jacob (Lacey) Kastens, Grace (Ryan) Boatright, Miriam Kastens, Joshua (Christina) Kastens, and Hannah Kastens, alongside the great-grandchildren: Makenzie Smith, James Kastens, Matthew Kastens, and Mabel Boatright. Besides his wife Alice, he further is survived by his brothers and sister and their spouses: Larry (Deanna) Kastens, June Hesterman, Gary (Dianna) Kastens, and Terry (Marilyn) Kastens, as well as his brothers- and sisters-in-law: Niles Niermeier, Charles (Esther) Nobe, and Paul (Angela) Nobe, alongside other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Jayne Niermeier, brother-in-law Marvin Hesterman, his godson Jordan Niermeier, and his nephew Kevin Nobe.
From 1965-1970, he was pastor at Christ Lutheran – Hilo, Hawaii, where he oversaw relocation of the parish campus, erection of parsonage, education building, worship sanctuary, and opened an Early Childhood Center. From Hilo he also operated a preaching station in Puako, Hawaii and oversaw the launch of full-time pastoral ministry at Emmanuel Lutheran – Wailuku/Kahului, Maui in 1968.
From 1970-1979, he served at Our Savior Lutheran – Aiea, Hawaii, where he opened an Early Childhood Center, founded an Elementary K-8 Lutheran School, erected a parsonage and the construction of a three-story Elementary School facility.
From 1979-1992, he was Pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran in Collinsville, Illinois, where an Early Childhood Center and Elementary School were launched which grew to 450 pupils, operative on two campuses.
He was Vice-President of the Southern Illinois District of the LCMS, from 1988-1992, having served earlier on various District auxiliaries and boards.
During these years, he was a contributor to Portals of Prayer, The Lutheran Witness, wrote curriculum materials for Synod’s midweek religious education series, and had several sermon books published.
He was a translating attaché with Dr. Dale Meyer of the Lutheran Hour during the early 1990’s with travels taking him to the former East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Russia. He served on the East Bloc Commission with the Board for Mission services of the LCMS during that time. A highlight during such travels, in view of being bilingual, was his preaching at the church in Wechold, Germany, the ancestral parish where three of his esteemed forebears served as Lutheran pastors.
From 1992-1995 he served as Administration Pastor at Immanuel Lutheran – Colorado Spring, Colorado where he oversaw its Fellowship Hall Renovation.
From 1995–2020, he served as Senior Pastor at Peace Lutheran Church, Saint Louis, Missouri, where he remained until retirement. During his incumbency there, he promoted the enhancement of its Early Childhood Program to include infants from ages six weeks to five years, oversaw the purchase of six surrounding residences (1995-2005) to enlarge the Peace campus, erection of its Family Life Center (including gymnasium) in 2003, and dedication of its (300-400 seat) worship sanctuary and 38-rank tracker organ in 2014.
Upon retirement in 2020, he became Emeritus Pastor of Peace and undertook visitation of its home-bound members and assisted the congregation in other ways.
He passed away on March 30, 2026, at the age of 86, after a brief illness.
He will be interred at St. Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri.
The family requests memorials be made to:
Peace Lutheran Church
737 Barracksview Road
St. Louis, MO 63125
or
Concordia Seminary-St. Louis
801 Seminary Place
St. Louis, MO 63105
In lieu of flowers
Visitation at Peace Lutheran Church, Tuesday April 7, 3:00 – 8:00 pm, and also on Wednesday April 8, 9:00 am until funeral service at 10:30 am. The service will be livestreamed at Peace Lutheran STL Youtube
So sorry for your loss. He was a great man and I appreciate everything he did for me.
What a great Pastor, man and friend. I will forever be grateful for his acceptance, counsel, wisdom, and advice he so willingly gave.
You will be missed by many.
My sincere condolences to the family.
Alice, what a wonderful husband you had! I have appreciated your faithfulness to the Versailles community that you were a part of in the 1950’s. Still remember your being in Miss Lampton’s 6th grade classroom ( 1956–57. May our Lord and memories comfort you, your family and friends during this time.
Alice, you are prayerfully on my mind as I ask God to give you the peace and comfort as only He can give. What a devoted life from both Dennis and you serving Christ and others. I can hear you even now playing a grand piece on the organ in tribute. May you know His presence, His Blessings, His peace in the grieving process.
I am heartbroken for my loss of Pastor Kastens whom I dearly loved but what a glorious day it was for him when he came face to face with the Lord. Can you imagine the things they had to talk about???? Pastor will forever be in our hearts and souls until we all meet again. Few men could ever accomplish what he did in his lifetime. Rest in peace. Every time I enter Peace Lutheran Church you will be thought of and missed.
Alice and Family, sincere condolences for this great loss.
Pastor Kastens was and will always be remembered as a true servant of Christ. God used him and his talents to impact so many in every area of life. From cradle to the grave; he was there spreading the Gospel and ministering to those in need.
I share your joy and your sadness, I lost my Judy just two years ago. May Gods grace be with you!
Alice,
My heart will be forever grateful to Pastor Kastens. It’s because of him I came back to church after my son Billy was born and we became members of Good Shepherd, Lutheran Church in Collinsville in 1983. Not only did he bring me back to church after being absent from the Lutheran Church for almost 7 yesrs he brought my dad back to church as well. What an amazing mentor and Pastor he was to his flock. Growing up, my son had to sit in the front row right in front of the pulpit every Sunday to hear Pastor Kastens preach his sermon. I know you are in the arms of Jesus right now. Pastor Kastens, rightfully so, good and faithful servant. Alice our prayers are with you and your family. Sending our love.
What a wonderful man! I will remember leading the German language Christmas service at Peace. I hope this tradition continues.
Pastor was always spiritually present in the Breitenfeld family! On top of spiritually present, he also was present to many joyous and even hard occasions. This included my graduation, my daughter’s baptism, my baptism, both the passing of Marvin and Helen Breitenfeld. May the lord embrace you pastor!
Alice, my heart aches for you and your children as you mourn the passing of Pastor. He gets to celebrate Easter in Heaven with Jesus!
Well done, good and faithful servant.
What a wonderful pastor and friend
The good lord will have another shepherd to guide his flock in heaven
We were truly blessed by God to have had such a kind and faithful pastor.
Our condolences to you Alice and joy for Pastor Kastens on achievement of his crown.
Dennis was one of my favorite cousins. Throughout my childhood, we would visit him and his family on the family farm in Kansas. He was always gentle, kind and steadfast in the Lord. He has always been a faithful servant to our Heavenly Father and will be greatly missed. Rest in peace Dennis. We love you.
Dennis was one of my favorite cousins. Throughout my childhood, we would visit him and his family on the family farm in Kansas. He was always gentle, kind and steadfast in the Lord. He has always been a faithful servant to our Heavenly Father and will be greatly missed. Rest in peace Dennis. We love you.
Pastor,you will certaInly be missed & was
always faithful. God will bless Alice and his family. Sincerely Glenn & Jackie Uthoff
Pastor Kastens was always a teacher and bearer of Christs love for all.
He was instrumental as Pastor and advisor to the Green Park School Board.
I will forever be grateful for Pastor Kasten ! My children were going to Good Shepherd School. He came to see me. He prayed for me for healing. He gave me a prayer, which were healing scriptures, that I prayed. He also asked if he could bring 7 men to pray over me, which he did! He was such a blessing! I was in the hospital for 5 weeks. I left there intact no surgery, Our loss, but Heaven’ gain!
Alice, we are thinking of you with sorrowful hearts! We were shocked to hear of Dennis’ passing. Hugs your way! As Ernest’s neighbor across the draw, and my high school classmate, we have been fortunate to know him for many years! What a blessing he has been to us! The two of you lived a wonderful life for our Lord, and raised two handsome, wonderful sons! You can be very proud!
Ernest says, “He served the Lord his whole life! And he converted many people to Christianity over all those years. He did it in an unassuming manner, just as Jesus did when he was on this earth. He was always a wonderful friend and neighbor.”
Rest in peace Pastor.
Thank you pastor Kastens I can’t get to church but you always stopped by to talk and and give communion. Thank for everything.
What a wonderful life , pastor lived.I met him a few times, he was a great speaker,and wonderful leader to his people at Peace Lutheran Church. My prayers go out to his family, treasure all your memories. He touched the life of many people,God bless you all.
Alice, John, & Mark:
We are so sorry for your great loss. Pastor was a such a true gift from God to all of us and we loved him dearly. He will forever be missed. I remember Ron’s & my first Sunday visit to Peace. We were looking for a new church, and Pastor asked for our names and our address. He was at our home right after church to welcome us back. Such a dedicated soul. He was instrumental in bringing so many people to Peace Lutheran. Everyone loved him and hated to see him retire. I once told him he was my favorite pastor, and his remark was, “The oldest one for sure”.
Alice, I was so blessed to have you, and Pastor help me with everything when I lost my son, Richard. Peace Lutheran was also blessed to have you both as members of their congregation for 30 years and you I hope will be there for more. Peace be with you Alice. Pastor was such a great and dedicated man, and he dedicated his life to the work of God. We will miss him.
I was saddened to learn of the death of my “cousin” Dennis. He and I share a Vehling lineage that dates back to the time of the Reformation. In fact, one of our ancestors Heinrich Vehling studied under Luther and his son David signed the Formula of Concord. About twenty years ago Dennis contacted me about our shared background and urged me to research my ancestry, which I did. We have communicated regularly ever since, sharing newly discovered materials. I will miss his genealogical bits of information.
Pastor Kastens was my Resident Field Work supervisor. It was the most profound time in discovering who I was as a seminarian. Tough lessons learned. But impactful enough that I knew I wanted him to preside over my ordination.
Pastor Kastens and I share the same ordination date. He ordained me 50 years to the day of his own ordination. His too was on a Saturday night evening service..
For years, we spoke weekly…then monthly, but we had a special connection.
I last spoke with Pastor, this past August when I preached at the Peace Lutheran anniversary. My Multiple Sclerosis had return, yet He brightened my soul and always encouraged me to be the best Christian servant I could be…despite my physical disability. I will miss our conversations beloved brother.
Always and Forever in Hi Grip,
Pastor Jeff Carlson
May Alice and other family members receive God’s comfort and peace at the transfer of Dennis to eternal life. Christ’s resurrection guarantees ours. Thanks be to God for Dennis and for his blessed ministry. Our friendship of almost 70 years, most at considerable distances from each other, was a special relationship of joy and
laughter, cemented by God’s Son, our Savior Jesus.
Dear Alice….
We are so sorry to hear of your loving hubby’s passing. We are thankful, though, that he (and you) did not suffer for a long period over his condition. We can all rejoice that Pastor is with the Lord, now!
We really love you and Pastor and we will truly miss him. Pastor was a god send to our son John. He helped him get onto the straight and narrow, and also pastor was so helpful to us when John suddenly passed back in 2021. John thought the world of him, as did his children.
We hope that you are ok and that your family and children will rally around you and take care of you. And remember … You will always have the entire Peace church family with you!
We will continue to keep you and your family in our prayers during this trying period.
If there is anything that I or Terry can do for you, please do not hesitate to ask. God Bless You, Alice, and take care!
Love,
John & Terryl Rastorfer
Rest in peace Pastor Kasten. You were amazing teaching the word of God. May the Kasten family find peace through this difficult time.
It’s with a heavy heart that we say goodbye (for now ) to our dear pastor and friend. Our sincere condolences to Alice and the entire family …. It was great to hear him preach sermon on 4 th wendsday in lent. I had asked him for a copy but never saw him look down at anything. I’m sure it was not written down. I asked for a copy at least the poem he recited. he said “ I’ll see what I can do”. His last words to us…. God bless this faithful servant of God. 😞
To the Family of Pastor Kasten,
Peace Lutheran Church lost a good pastor and freind. Everybody he as touch has appecate his visit. May God with you allways,
Robert Drobena
To Alice,
Assuredly you and your family are in our prayers, we all will surely miss him.
Paster lived his faith and approached his work as a true Man of God.
May God bless & keep you.
Leo & Kathy Schwartz
Hi Alice,
Jacqui and I are sorry we cannot be there in person to express our gratitude to God for Pastor and our love for you. Please know that you are loved, and we will see you when we get back.
We were so very sorry, with pastor Kastens passing. He married 2 of my children. He confirmed my youngest son. He baptized 4 of my 5 grandkids.
And he was a good friend to my dad. Dad just loved him. When my dad had to go to a home. He always went to give him communion. That meant a great deal to dad n all of us. When dad was in hospice he was there for all of us. He got us through it all. God truly blessed our family with him. May God see his family also through their loss. God Bless the Kastens family too.!
Unsere Aufrichtiges Beileid. Pastor Kastens wird immer in unserer Erinnerung bleiben. Gern denken wir an die vielen Besuche zurück. Es war uns immer ein Bedürfnis ihn bei unserem Aufenthalt in Saint Louis in der Kirche zu besuchen. Er sprach so gut deutsch mit uns.
Alice, John, Mark, and families:
We are saddened to learn of Dennis’s passing but happy to know he is in the presence of his Lord and Savior.
Dennis provided wonderful counsel to Bill & Connie during our family time in St.Louis and throughout our lives. We know Dennis as a serious student of the Bible and our church & family history and will always remember his teaching & stories delivered with intellectual integrity and that subtle & clever humor.
May God and the Holy Spirit bring you peace and healing in this time of loss.
With love & prayers
Bill & Ami Dillard
Krista, Aaron & Asher Bruton
Amanda, Daisy, & Dax Hogan
Mary & Chris Cox
Mark Siems
Shalom, I was privileged to know Pastor for many years and blessed that he was indeed a man of God with vision and passion and zeal. He encouraged us in bringing the gospel to the Jewish people and we continue to do that. May his memory be blessed and remembered, and many others look to him as a model for godly living. Yours and Yeshua, Steve Cohen.
For the family, you are in our prayers for God’s comfort. I was blessed to have Pastor as my pastor here in STL, and also at our redeemer in aehi in the 70s. he was such a man of God . I look forward to meeting him the third time in the resurrection.
As a brother in the ministry, I was very impressed that Pastor Kastens would be at church at Good Shepherd, Collinsville, IL at 6 a. m. so he could counsel people before they went to work. That is a tribute to his efforts to minister to his people.
Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin,
in Gottes Willen,
Getrost ist mir mein Herz und Sinn,
sanft und stille.
Wie Gott mir verheißen hat:
der Tod ist mir Schlaf worden. (M. Luther)
(With peace and joy I go my way, / in God’s will, / My heart and mind are at peace, /gentle and still. /As God has promised me: /death has become sleep for me.)
In 1989, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I met Pastor Kastens in East Germany. That’s when the idea arose to raise money to send a theology student to Concordia Seminary St. Louis for a year of study. His congregation, “Good Shepherd” in Collinsville, collected donations, and in the summer of 1990, I was fortunate enough to study there for a year. That time ranks among the most beautiful of my life. I owe that to him and, above all, to his dear wife Alice. In June of this year, I plan to travel to St. Louis for a few days. I am very sad that I will no longer be able to meet him in person. I owe a great deal to this tireless and diligent pastor. May God have mercy on him in judgment and grant him a glimpse of eternal glory. I share in the grief of his wife Alice and his sons John and Marc, and send them my warmest regards. May God bless and watch over you and your families.
Christoph Ilgner
_______________________________
Rev. Dr. Friedrich Christoph Ilgner
Wasastr. 16
01219 Dresden
Our family is so deeply saddened by the loss of this wonderful and most gifted Pastor who visited my father weekly at Bethesda Southgate. We are honored that Pastor Kastens and Pastor Edward Melchoir baptized our infant daughter Elizabeth on October 31, 1999 (Reformation Sunday) at Peace Lutheran Church. It isn’t the same walking into Peace Lutheran now and not being greeted by Pastor Kastens. He will be missed, and our hearts go out to Mrs. Kastens and the family.
I just learned of the passing of Pastor Kastens. To me, he was the best example of a Godly man of truth that I ever had the great pleasure of knowing. He was the reason my son, my sister and I began attending Peace Lutheran Church many years ago. We have lost a true treasure but I know he is extremely happy and joyous to be with our Lord. Praise God.