Memorials: Walter Weston Wessel

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 2003

Walter Weston Wessel was born in Los Angeles, CA, on August 17, 1921, to Otto and Emma Holmfeld Wessel, the fifth of six children. Walter trusted Christ for his eternal salvation as a junior age boy in an evangelistic meeting. He was reared in a Baptist home, and his grandfather was a preacher.

Walter graduated from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. His higher education consisted of a Th.B. degree from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in 1944, followed by a B.A., and an M.A., from University of California, Los Angeles in 1946 and 1950 respectively, then a Ph.D. from Edinburgh University in 1953. Walter taught at Biola in downtown Los Angeles in 1950-51; at Western Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in Portland, OR, from 1952-54; at North American Baptist Seminary in Sioux Fall, SD, from 1955-61; and at Bethel College and Seminary in St. Paul, MN, from 1961-79, where he served as acting dean of the seminary for a time. He then served at Bethel West in San Diego for about fifteen years before retiring in 1992.

He wrote commentaries on Mark (Zondervan, 1984) and the Epistle of James. He was NT Editor of the NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, 1985), as well as NT Editor for the New International Reader's Version. Walter was a U.S. Army Reserve chaplain, and rose to the rank of Colonel. He taught chaplain's schools, took students to the Holy Land on study trips, and loved gardening.

Walter was married on June 22, 1945, in Los Angeles, to Helen Strain, whom he met as a student at Biola. They had six children, and Helen preceded Walter in death. Walter's second marriage was to Annette (Brown) Hamm, whom he met at College Avenue Baptist Church where he taught Sunday School. They were married on June 1, 1991 in the backyard of Annette's daughter, Beth Gallion. Walter had by-pass surgeries in 1985 and again in the mid-1990s. He died April 21, 2002 at home in San Diego after five weeks in the hospital. Walter is buried at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma, CA. He lived 80 years, 7 months, and 4 days.

Left to mourn Walter's death are his wife Annette of San Diego; his daughter Margaret and her husband Jim Wilke of New Brighton, MN, and their children Joel and Laura; his daughter Sharyl and her husband Dan Adams of Chesterfield, VA, and their children David, Beth, and Ginnie; his daughter Deborah and her husband Manolo Abascal of El Paso, TX, and their children Timothy, Amy, and Debbie Joy; his daughter Dorothy and her husband Bert Bliss of Cambridge, MN, and their children Brenda, Belinda, and Buffy; his son Daniel and his wife Martha of Seattle, WA, and their children Judah and Angella; his son Donald and his wife Deanne of Stillwater, MN; and his stepchildren Thomas Hamm, Mark Hamm, and Beth Gallion.