Mrs. George Hampel, our First Historian

1967 marked the 100th Anniversary of  both St. John’s Petawawa and Canada. Mrs. George Hampel, our first Historian, wrote the first version of the History of St. Johns that year.

The first history of St. John’s, by Mrs. George Hampel

From 1963 to 1966, considerable work on the church was done. Coupled with these initiatives was the looming Centennial of the congregation in 1967. It was generally felt that the renovation plan could be extended to include a joining of the parish hall (now named “Luther Hall”) to the church proper.  This project was proposed and adopted on January 24, 1966, and was considered a “Centennial Project,” since both the congregation and Canada would be one hundred years old in 1967.

The placing of the plaque commemorating the St. John’s Centennial Project, 1967.

With the assistance of the then newly-named Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Petawawa, St. John’s erected a monument to the German Pioneers of the nineteenth century who settled in the Petawawa area. On September 10th, 1967, Pastor George Strack and the Base Commander, Colonel N. W. Reilander dedicated the monument

Pastor Strack (centre) and Colonel Reilander (right) just after the dedication of the monument

Church Council, 1967

Seated (L-R): Gordon Silke, Alex Behnke, Larry Behnke

Standing (L-R): Edwin Mohns, Gordon Pennock, Pastor Strack, Bruno Leeder, Donald Kettner