He was preceded in death by a sister, Anna (Johanna) Davis, and brothers Gerald (Gerhard) Lantz, and Herman Lantz.
He is survived by his wife Ronda (Wiede) Lantz, whom he married 8/ 18/ 1979; brother, Carl Eric Lantz (Lois )of Punta Gorda Florida, children Christina Anne Cochran(Ross) of Lampasas, Eric Carl Lantz (Dawn) of Comfort, Susan Grace Lantz of Center Point, Karen Elizabeth Phillips (Chad) of Menard, Carl Martin Lantz of Houston, Kenneth Lee Lantz (Jessika) of San Antonio; grandchildren Ashley Cochran, Vanessa Cochran, Collin Cochran, Kail Lantz, Chase Lantz, Emma Lantz, Elliot Lantz; and great grandchildren Coy Lantz, Kamryn Lantz . He is also survived by his former spouse, Elizabeth Lantz.
Ernie graduated from Wittenberg University with a BA in History and Philosophy in 1963 and Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg University in 1965. During this time he married and had 4 children. He served parishes in Spencer NY, Grand Island NY, and Bemus Point NY where he began work in Lutheran camping ministry as part of the parish ministries. He then took a call to Iowa to direct camping fulltime.
In 1976 he moved to Texas to begin work with Lutheran Association of Southwest Camping which eventually became Cross Trails Ministry where he served until 1984 when he returned to parish ministry accepting a call to Grace Lutheran Church. He served Grace until his retirement in 1999. He then served as interim director of CAM (Christian Assistance Ministry) followed by interim positions as parish pastor in Comfort and Yorktown. He served on various boards including CAM and SAMM (San Antonio Metropolitan Ministry), Rotary Club and Torch Club. After moving to Texas he remarried and had 2 sons.
He loved ministry and felt strongly that the church needed to work cooperatively with partners in sister churches and the community. He completed his doctorate work except for the dissertation with a focus on ecumenical ministry in San Antonio.
He enjoyed being in the country, being with family, and friends, spending time in his workshop building things such as woodworking crafts, boats, and ships, reading, learning, music, and art.
A memorial service will be Saturday, June 20th at 11 am at Grace Lutheran Church. It will be family only due to the limitations of covid-19 restrictions. The service will be available live on Facebook at 11am or could be viewed later on the church's website Gracesa.org. There is a link to the Facebook account on the website. He had a wish for a Columbarium to be built at Grace which will be completed in June, 2020 and he will be the first member of Grace to be interned there. We note that he passed away on his birthday and celebrate that his birthday became his new birth day 84 years later to join the heavenly ranks completing his work on earth. Amen.
Contributions in memory of Ernie may be made to
Grace Lutheran Church,
504 Ave E
San Antonio, Tx 78215
GracesSA.org
or
Cross Trails Ministry
391 Upper Turtle Creek Road
Kerrville, Tx 78028
Crosstrails.org
Arrangements by Sunset North Funeral Home
