Rev. Larry E Ziegler

Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. The Reverend Larry Ellwood Ziegler of Castle Rock, Colorado, was taken to his heavenly home on Sunday, February 1, 2026, a fitting day for a pastor of 41 years in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to receive his reward of salvation and life in Christ. Let us remember with thanksgiving what God has done through his servant Larry, whose kind nature and genuine concern for the souls of those he encountered meant sharing the Gospel and offering a helping hand to all.

Larry is survived by his wife, Carolyn, a retired teacher for Douglas County Schools, and his three children: Kirsten and Rob Pratt, Erich and Breonda Ziegler, and Mollie and Mark Hemingway. He was blessed with seven grandchildren: Sophie (Pratt) and her husband Dylan Banes, Meg Pratt, and Nick Pratt; Anja Ziegler and Charlize Ziegler; and Evangeline Hemingway and Linden Hemingway. He was doubly blessed with five great-grandchildren: Julian, Emmie Lou, Charley June, Wren Leigh, and Beau Robert Banes. Larry is also survived by sister Katherine Heth, her daughter Kimberley Heth, and Katherine’s five grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law, Dave and Jamie Ziegler; and his wife’s siblings and their children. Larry’s influence on his extended family was profound, and the family’s strength is in its shared confession of faith in Christ Jesus.

Larry was born on June 21, 1946, in Denver, Colorado. His parents, Westley and Shirley, became members of University Hills Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in 1954. Larry — along with his mother, sister, and brother — was received into the Body of Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, at the age of seven. He attended University Park Elementary through 2nd grade, and University Hills Lutheran School through 8th grade. By age 11, he knew he wanted to become a Lutheran pastor.

As a teenager he was a newspaper carrier for both the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, a fill-in milk route driver, and a swimmer at his high school. He often told the family stories about how he would jump the fence at his neighborhood pool at Eisenhower Park to swim laps. The police patrol would shine a light in, see that it was Larry, and let him carry on.

After graduation from Thomas Jefferson High School (TJ) in 1964, he was encouraged by a church member to attend St. John’s Lutheran College in Winfield, Kansas. (Once a Johnny, always a Johnny!) Following the two years at St. John’s, he attended the University of Northern Colorado. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with a minor in Economics. He met his future wife, Carolyn (Jost), there and they were wed on August 16, 1969. Their nearly 57 years together were a testament of Christian love.

In 1969, Larrry entered Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois. He put himself through school by driving for North American Van Lines across the nation each summer. He vicared at St. James Lutheran, Imperial Beach, California. In 1973, he was ordained at his home church, University Hills Lutheran, by Rev. Walter F. Geihsler.

Larry’s first Call was to St. Paul Lutheran, Kemmerer, Wyoming, where he also served as the Wyoming District LWML Counselor. In 1976, Larry took a Call to Zion Lutheran, Terra Bella, California, where he also served as counselor to the LWML in the Cal-Nev-Hawaii District. He also served as vacancy pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Delano, California, helping keep it from being removed from the Missouri Synod. He received the Servus Ecclesia Christi award from Concordia Theological Seminary-Ft. Wayne, under Dr. Robert D. Preus.

In 1983, Larry was Called to Mt. Zion Lutheran, Castle Rock, Colorado, and Christ Our Savior Lutheran, in Elizabeth, where he served for 31 years. During these years he supervised six vicars, including The Rev. Dr. Timothy Yeadon, former president of the LCMS New England District, and Dr. Jason Gehrke, assistant professor of history at Hillsdale College. Larry helped revitalize the Denver area Lutheran Reformation Festival, securing many faithful, confessional theological speakers for the annual event.

Larry retired in September of 2014 and continued to serve our Lord in various capacities, such as a vacancy pastor to St. Peter Lutheran Church in Rocky Ford, and a guest pastor at other Colorado area congregations. He annually attended the Symposium on Exegetical Theology at his alma mater, and he was honored in 2022 with its Alumnus of the Year Award.

After retirement, Larry was appointed to the Douglas County Parks Advisory Board. He and Carolyn loved working in their expansive yard, having his monthly breakfasts with his neighborhood friends, and being a District Captain for the Douglas County GOP. Larry was known for his titanic work ethic and was always doing something, including Latin classes, fishing, hunting, basket-weaving, attempting piano lessons, and road trips across numerous states. He managed to visit every state except Hawaii and Maine. During seminary, he spent seven weeks traveling the Holy Lands, along with Western and Eastern Germany, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Larry is adored by his grieving family. Following his funeral service at Grace Lutheran in Parker, his body will be laid to rest, where it will remain with all the dead until the last and coming day in which Jesus Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life, shall grant His resurrection of the body and life everlasting to all who are in Christ Jesus.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to either: Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana - https://www.ctsfw.edu/support/ or Grace Lutheran, Parker, Colorado - https://glcparker.org/give_to_grace.html

A visitation will be held at Grace Lutheran Church, located at 11135 Newlin Gulch Blvd., Parker, Colorado, 80134, on February 7, 2026, starting at 9:00 am.

The funeral service will follow at the same location on February 7, 2026, beginning at 10:30 am.

A graveside service will take place at Cedar Hill Cemetery, located at 880 E Wolfensberger Road, Castle Rock, Colorado, 80109, on February 7, 2026, at 2:30 pm.