Former ILC Chairman enters into glory

Former ILC Chairman Rev. Dr. Leopoldo Heimann.

BRAZIL – On April 5, 2017, Rev. Dr. Leopoldo Heimann, former chairman of the International Lutheran Council, died in the Lord at the age of 83. Dr. Heimann served as chairman of the International Lutheran Council from 1995-1998.

Dr. Heimann was born in Erechim, a city in the south of Brazil, on December 10, 1933. A 1960 graduate of Concordia Seminary at Porto Alegre, Dr. Heimann served as a pastor in congregations in Ponta Grossa and Porto Alegre from 1960 until 1973, when he became editor of the IELB’s publications. He became President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil – IELB) in 1990, a position he held through 1998.

Dr. Heimann was elected chairman of the ILC at the 16^th Conference of the International Lutheran Council, held in Adelaide, Australia in 1995. He was reelected chairman at the following conference in 1997, held in St. Louis, Missouri, and served until 1998 when he completed his tenure as President of the IELB.

He received a Doctor of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, Indiana) in 1996. After leaving the presidency of the IELB, Dr. Heimann served as a professor and Director of the Faculty of Theology at the Lutheran University in Canoas.

He was married to Marie Luize Rotmann and had three children. A funeral service took place on April 6, 2017 in São Leopoldo.

“Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them’”  – (Revelation 14:13).

———————