Rev. William “Bill” Imler died July 31, 2022 surrounded by members of his family. Bill was born at home in Hagerstown, Indiana on February 6, 1925.
After Bill’s first year of seminary, he married Dona Lou Wilson. From 1950-53 Bill was appointed pastor of two Methodist churches in Modena and Clintondale, N.Y. After graduation in 1953, Bill accepted the leadership of a new church called St. Luke’s Methodist. In November of 1959 Bill was appointed pastor of First Methodist Church in Martinsville, Indiana. They returned to Madison, N.J, where Bill worked as Assistant Dean of Drew Theological Seminary. From 1967-1973 Bill worked as Director of Continuing Education at Garret Theological Seminary. During this time he also preached at Michigan Avenue UMC in Hobart, Indiana. He served at West Lafayette First UMC from 1973 to 1976. Bill assumed the leadership of Clay United Methodist Church in May of 1977 and served there for 10 years. After retirement he served at First UMC in South Bend as pastor of visitation. In 1992, Bill and Dona Lou became Volunteers in Mission at Wesley UMC in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia From 1991 to the present Bill and Dona Lou were involved in the Methodist Church’s work of establishing, developing and supporting Africa University.
Bill is survived by his wife of 73 years, Dona Lou, his sons Don (Kay), Lee (Armida), Craig (Romana) and daughters Carol (Dave) Jackson and Anita Goss. He is survived by 6 grandchildren: Anita, Chris, Dan, Kelton, Matthew, and Finn and 5 great grandchildren: Gryph, Drake, Nico, George, and June.
The memorial service for Rev. Imler was September 10 at 2:00 p.m. with visitation at 1:00 p.m. at Angola United Methodist Church. Preferred memorials are to the church or to Africa University Development Office, PO Box 34007, Nashville, TN, 37203.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared for the Imler family here.