Richard Lee Ingmire

Rev. Richard Lee Ingmire, son of Helen and Forrest Ingmire, was born on January 29th, 1940 in Perry, OK. There, in a two-room Lutheran schoolhouse, he developed his faith in a loving God. His strong faith gave him a sunny personality and a gentle kindness which stayed with him throughout his life which ended on November 5th, 2024.

The eldest of four children, including Gary, Sharon and David, he graduated from Perry High School and went to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. He began as a pre-med student, however a Lutheran seminary sent a guest pastor that inspired him to change his path to become a Lutheran pastor. After some consideration, he left OSU to attend Concordia Seminary in Springfield, IL, and graduated in 1966. He started a vicarage in Indianapolis, IN, in which his year turned into two years. The residing pastor, Reverend Harry Huxhold, became his mentor. At a time during the 1960s when many churches were leaving for the suburbs, his congregation chose to stay in the city of Indianapolis, and Huxhold and Ingmire worked to invite the neighborhood families to their church. The cause of equal rights for all people became rooted in Richard’s beliefs, and he fought for it for his entire life.

He was called to his first church in Quincy, IL to St. James Lutheran Church. There he met Hannah Hollister at a local bookstore, and they married on November 22nd, 1967. During those happy years, their two children, Richard Lee Ingmire II and Ann Elizabeth Ingmire (Baker) were born. Richard and Hannah started a youth group which blossomed into an attendance of 30+ young people. The most exciting event there was an unusual bicycle marathon, where a bicycle was run constantly for one month without stopping. Learning how to change a tire, while keeping the bike moving was the biggest challenge. Money was raised by pledges to give donations to a home for special needs students. When St. James Church’s senior pastor, L.J. Wysmann died, Richard was elected Senior Pastor at the young age of 29. He began a church focus on one of the earliest groups of hospice care for the elderly.

In 1973, he received a call to Oakmont, PA and the Ingmire family moved to the Pittsburgh suburbs. He started a youth group there, as well as inviting women to vote in the church assemblies. This proved to be at the displeasure of some members, who protested his decisions to include women. One member even declared that “women wouldn’t understand the financial workings involved,” but the women came, and it did work. In 1977, there was a time of division in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, and Richard decided to leave the ministry when a position opened up back in Quincy, IL to reopen the Adams County Youth Home. He accepted the offer, and the family moved back to Quincy. There he wrote a revised manual for the Adams County Youth Home as a superintendent, however he missed the ministry.

God then sent him a call in 1983 to Hannibal, MO to become the new pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, which included a nursing home and a church school. These three areas of St. John kept him busy and active as the sole pastor. He also began a Good Friday March with multi-denominational churches, in which they marched from church to church to hear mini sermons of the Seven Last Words of Christ. While in Hannibal, he earned the NAACP Martin Luther King Award for his work. After eight years, however, the church made the decision to get Richard vicars from St. Louis Concordia Seminary, in order to help him in his church work. This program was successful, and lasted until his retirement in 2005.

Richard and Hannah then moved to Columbia, MO and his retirement didn’t last long. He was asked to become the Lutheran chaplain for hospitals in mid-Missouri. He loved his chaplaincy job and continued it until his illness in 2021, when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Along with his career, Richard’s love of his family was ever present. Richard is survived by a sister, Sharon (Ingmire) Clinton; his wife, Hannah; his daughter, Ann Baker (Ingmire), her husband, Tim Baker and their children, Miles and Lucy Baker; his son, Rich, and his wife, Pam, along with their children, Will and Jake Ingmire, Samantha (Toben) Hinkle, Sara (Toben) Jefferson, Steven Toben, and five great-grandchildren, Jackson, Lewis, Lucile, Charlotte and Theodore. He is preceded in death by his mother, Helen, and father, Forrest, as well as his brother, Gary Dean Ingmire.

Richard’s favorite hobbies included antiquing, gardening, building koi ponds, and feeding and watching the wildlife around him. He loved traveling to many different countries, and to Cape Cod, MA and his favorite destination: St. Augustine, FL. His love of humor, politics, art, movies, books and music was always a great inspiration to his children and family. He loved his pet dogs, (always named Barney), and loved to take them on lengthy walks.

Richard was lucky enough to meet so many wonderful people in his life, from the very poor and destitute, to people of high affluence; including famous celebrities and even presidents. No matter a person’s stature in life, everyone that came into contact with him knew one thing: they were all treated as a friend, and with great dignity in his kind and gentle nature.

Richard’s memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 9th at Campus Lutheran Church in Columbia, MO. The visitation will be held from 10:30-11:30 a.m. and the service will be at 11:30 a.m. A meal will follow the service at the church hall, and all are invited to attend.

Condolences and fond memories may be shared at www.memorialfuneralhomeandcemetery.com