Obituary

Funeral services for Dr. Lee Roy Max Brandes, 76, of Banning, Calif., will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Trinity Lutheran Church in Providence with the Rev. Daniel Schrolemer, Lutheran minister from San Antonio, officiating. Burial will be in Plainview Cemetery by Wood-Dunning Funeral Home. California arrangements were by Wiefels & Son in Banning. Dr. Brandes died Tuesday, April 2, 2002, in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was born May 17, 1925, in Plainview, the son of the late Ben and Hattie Luedtke Brandes. He graduated from Plainview High School in 1942 and attended Texas Lutheran Junior College. He received a bachelor?s degree from Capital University, his Master of Theology from Trinity Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, and his Doctorate of Ministry from the American Baptist Seminary of the West at Covina, Calif. He pastored Lutheran churches in Paradise, Torrance and Banning, Calif., and Wichita Falls and Seguin, Texas and celebrated 50 years in the clergy in June of 2001. He was a member of Habitat for Humanity International Board of Advisors, Founder of Encounter, Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif., a company dedicated to spiritual growth and education, and served as executive director and produced "A Man Called Luther," a documentary depicting the life of Martin Luther, religious reformer of the 16th Century. He played the role of Martin Luther. He married Laura Sammann in August of 1948 in Trinity Lutheran Church. Survivors include his wife; a daughter and son-in-law, Marla and John Baird of Palm Desert, Calif.; a son and daughter-in-law, Mark and April Brandes of Thousand Oaks, Calif.; a brother and sister-in-law, Luther Ben "Buddy" and Georgie Brandes of Plainview; four granddaughters, Jennifer, Heather and Laurel Baird of Palm Desert and Kelly Brandes of Thousand Oaks; three nieces, Debra Bartos of Slaton, Pam Hall of Garland and Cynthia Bybee of Lockney; and a nephew, Martin Stoerner of Lockney. A sister, Evalee Stoerner, is deceased. The family suggests memorials to the Habitat for Humanity in Americas, Ga., or to the Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Rock Point, Ariz.
Plainview Daily Herald - April 7, 2002