Rev. Armin F. Stolp, 93, of Canon City, Colo., was called to his eternal home with his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on March 14, 2023. Armin was born in Greenleaf, Kan., on March 11, 1930; the first of five children born to Rev. Theodore Stolp and his wife Lisette (VonLehe) Stolp.

While still a young man, Armin felt called to serve his Lord by following in the footsteps of his father and his father’s father to become a minister in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. After graduating from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., in 1957, Armin accepted his first call to Hope Lutheran Church in Westcliffe, Colo., where he was ordained as a minister in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and installed as their Pastor. While serving there, he met and married his beloved wife, Arlene Hanssen. Together they celebrated over 62 years of marriage and raised three sons.

After serving as Pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Westcliffe for several years, Armin went on to serve churches in Hudson and Fort Lupton, Colo.; Shelton and Lowell, Neb.; Monte Vista, Colo.; Hunter, Kan.; and Grants, N.M.

In 2004, after 47 years in the ministry, Armin retired and moved back to Monte Vista. Even in retirement Armin continued to fill in as a substitute preacher when needed until failing eyesight forced him to quit completely.

In 2019, Armin and Arlene moved to Canon City. Armin passed away peacefully in his sleep at home on the evening of March 14, 2023.

Armin is survived by his wife Arlene of Canon City; sons Allen and Wanda of Del Norte, Colo.; Alex and Lara of Monte Vista, Colo., and Albert and Barbara of Mesa, Ariz. He is also survived by one sister, Harriet Wilkens, three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and by numerous nieces and nephews.

Armin was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters Theresa Gremel and Dorothy Goff, his brother Werner Stolp, and two nephews, Paul Hanssen and John Wilkens.

Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” — John 11:25-26