Michael Wenning

For the Bavarian engraver, see Michael Wening.

Dr. Michael Heeley Wenning (July 5, 1935 – June 28, 2011) was a South African-born American Presbyterian minister. He served as the senior pastor at the Bel Air Presbyterian Church from 1995 to 2001.^[2] He gained national prominence when conducting President Ronald Reagan's state funeral.^[3]

Michael Wenning
Wenning delivering the invocation at the funeral of former president Ronald Reagan, June 2004
Senior pastor of the Bel Air Presbyterian Church
In office 1995–2001
Personal details
Born	Michael Heeley Wenning (1935-07-05)July 5, 1935 Cape Town, South Africa
Died	June 28, 2011(2011-06-28) (aged 75) Mission Viejo, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Freda Wenning (1957-2011; his death)[1]

Early life

Wenning was born in Cape Town.^[4] He was educated at Texas Christian University (Master of Divinity) in Fort Worth, Texas, and New York University (master's in both psychology and counseling).

Career

From 1969 to 1977, he was pastor of a Presbyterian church in Durban, South Africa.^[2] In 1977 he returned to the United States where he worked for the next three decades as a pastor in various Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations.^[3] He served as the senior pastor at the Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian Church in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, more than nine years, between January 1977 and August 1986.^[5]

Reagan funeral

Main article: Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan

He was notably the senior pastor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church from 1995 to 2001. There he developed a close relationship with church members Ronald and Nancy Reagan.^[4] He notably conducted President Reagan's interment service on June 7, 2004, following the latter's death and state funeral.^[3]

Death

Wenning died in 2011, at age 75, at his home in Mission Viejo, California, from kidney failure resulting from leukemia.^[4] He is survived by his wife Freda and his two daughters.^[4]