Reverend Welton Warkentin

Rev. Welton Warkentin entered eternal rest on Sunday July 26, 2026. For more than half a century, Rev. Warkentin devoted his life to ministry, education, and service, guiding generations of congregants through worship, learning, celebration, and loss.

Welton was born on December 16, 1937 in DeSmet, SD, the first child of the late Rev. Jacob M. Warkentin and Mrs. Rose (Kasik) Warkentin. He grew up in Abingdon, Illinois and then West Chicago, Illinois, where he played football in high school. He earned his BA in physics and math in 1959 from Knox College with Phi Beta Kappa honors and a varsity letter in baseball. Awarded a prestigious Rockefeller Brothers theological fellowship, Welton moved to Chicago, earning his Bachelors of Divinity from the University of Chicago / Chicago Theological Seminary in 1963, the same year he was ordained as a pastor. His calling to ministry took him to First Plymouth Congregational Church in Denver, CO for a year-long internship, to Plymouth Congregational

Church in Des Moines, Iowa, where he served as minister of education, and then to the First Congregational Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he served as Associate Minister from 1964 to 1967 where he was responsible for Christian education and youth work.

Welton’s life’s work began in the early 1970’s when became Assistant Pastor at the West Chicago First Congregational Church under his own father, until he became Senior Minister in 1972 upon the retirement of the elder Rev. Warkentin. Welton retired after 30 years of ministry. In his retirement, Welton loved reading, watching the Chicago Cubs, the Bears, square dancing, volunteering on the board of the West Chicago Community Center, and teaching bible study classes. Welton is survived by his three children: Mark Warkentin of Kernersville, North Carolina, Jacob Warkentin of Meridian, Mississippi, and Elizabeth Rose (Jeff Dubois) Warkentin of Buffalo, New York; by 3 grandchildren, Adam Warkentin, Katelyn Solecki and her children, Rosalie and Rowen, and Charlotte Dubois; by two of his younger sisters: Helen Kay Bruce of Big Timber, Montana, and Lois Ann Murphy of Chicago, Illinois; and by countless former church members and friends whose lives he touched through decades of ministry—officiating weddings, christenings, funerals, and other sacred milestones. He is preceded in death by his younger sister Rose Marie Warkentin.

May those whose lives he touched continue to carry on his legacy of lifelong learning, curiosity, faith, and service.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Welton’s memory may be made to the Chicago Theological Seminary (https://ctschicago.edu/ways-to-give/), Welton’s alma mater to which he donated for many years.