Religous Affiliations

I'm hoping we can have a new thread to track down the victims' families religious affiliations. I have found a lot of information about the funerals but hope that others can add more. Please include links to sources which may include obituaries. It's also interesting to track the family home towns.

Often Googling using the victim name results in articles that mention the funeral. Otherwise I try and find the home town, then look for a newspaper in the area, and try to find the obituary. Note that if there's a memorial service on campus that might not reflect the family religious preference.

This list, and the numbering, is from the Footprints blog, http://footprintsattheriversedge.blogspot.com/

48. Willie Jacobson, 19 (NY)
unknown
47. Josh Szostak, 21 (NY)
4/26/2008
St. Pius X Church, Loudonville NY
(Catholic)
http://www.joshuaszostak.com/
46. Christopher Melancon, 24 (WI)
10/1/2007
Christ the King Baptist Church, Milwaukee WI
(Baptist)
see: http://www.legacy.com/jsonline/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=95717843
45. Brad Olsen, 26 (IL) MISSING
unknown
44. Abel Bolanos, 19 (IA)
4/9/2007
St. Colette Church, Rolling Meadows, IL
(Catholic)
website: http://www.stcolette.org/
see: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2007/apr/b/
43. Wade Steffey, 19 (IN)
Evangelical Community Church, Bloomington, IN
(Christian, non-denominational, Rabbi presided)
website: http://www.eccbloomington.org/
see: http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070326/NEWS0501/70326014/0/NEWS0501
42. Nick Rossini, 21 (MN)
4/28/2007
Saint Mary of the Lake Church, White Bear Lake MN
(Catholic)
website: http://www.stmarys-wbl.org/
see: http://www.users.csbsju.edu/record/2007/04/former-johnnie-found-dead-in-accidental-drowning/
see: http://footprintsattheriversedge.blogspot.com/2006/12/121606-nick-rossini-21-white-bear-lake.html
41. Jesse Ross, 20 (IL) MISSING
40. Lucas Homan, 21 (WI)
10/5/2006
St. John Vianney Church, Brookfield WI
(Catholic)
buried Holy Cross Cemetery.
see: http://www.freemanol.com/
39. Max Walker, 26 (WI)
former St. Ambrose University Davenport Iowa
(Catholic U.)
from Davenport Iowa, family in Lincoln NE
http://footprintsattheriversedge.blogspot.com/2008/05/072606-max-walker-26-wi.html
38. Brian Shaffer, 27 (OH) MISSING
37. Scott Radel, 21 (MN)
3/11/6 The Associated Church in Owatonna
(Presbyterian Church and United Church of Christ)
Owatonna Memorial Gardens.
see: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2006/03/09/mn/0student.txt
36. Kenji Ohmi, 20 (WI)
funeral in (Kyoto?) Japan
religion unknown
see: http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2006/06/20/0606200668.php
35. Cullen Fortney, 21 (WI) Alive
religion unknown
34. Patrick Kycia, 19 (MN)
10/3/2005
St. Michael's Catholic Church, Stillwater, MN
(Catholic)
see: http://www.kxmb.com/t/minnesota/8744.asp
33. Matt Kruziki, 24 (IA)
Hartland WI, Waukesha County
Church & Chapel Funeral Home, Waukesha WI
(non-sectarian)
see: http://www.freemanol.com/obits/2006/March/22/03.htm
see: http://obit.churchandchapel.com/obitdisplay.html?id=297548&clientid=churchandchapel&listing=Found
32. Matthew Soumakis, 31 (IL)
from: East Logmeadow, MA
unknown
31. Albert Campbell, 22 (NY)
unknown
30. Josh Snell, 22 (WI)
6/12/2005
Berea Evangelical Lutheran Church, Inver Grove Heights MN
(Protestant)
"Joshua T. Snell of Hastings died after the last known contact June 12 2005 and located June 15.
He was 22 years old. P P A memorial service was held Sunday June 19 at Berea Evangelical Lutheran Church in Inver Grove Heights. P P The Ellis Wise Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. A complete obituary appeared in the June 23 2005 edition of the Hastings Star Gazette ... Thursday, June, 23, 2005 - - News"
see: http://www.hastingsstargazette.com/
29. Chris Thiem, 19 (IN)
from: Elkhart IN
28. Adam Falcon, 20 (NY)
11/27/2004
St. Patrick's Church, Victor NY
(Catholic)
site: http://stpatrickvictor.org/
see: http://dbease.democratandchronicle.com/dbEase/cgi-bin/search.pl?tableName=obits20032004
27. Chris Olberding, 18 (OH)
10/11/2004
Our Lady of Victory Church, Cincinatti, OH
(Catholic)
site: http://www.olv.org
see: http://media.www.newsrecord.org/med...News/Student.Found.In.Ohio.River-748607.shtml
26. Marlon Blue, 21 (IL)
from: Homewood IL
unknown
25. Glenn Leadley, 23 (IL)
from: Portage MI
24. Jared Dion, 21 (WI)
4/20/2004
St. Charles Catholic Church, Hartland WI
(Catholic)
see: http://www2.jsonline.com/classifieds/deathnotices/deathnotice.asp?id=89472
23. Nathan Herr, 21 (WI)
from: Sheboygan WI
22. Chad Sharon, 18 (IN)
2/22/2003
Bible Presbyterian Church, Merrill WI
(Protestant)
see: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_site=wausaudailyherald&f_site=wausaudailyherald&f_sitename=Wausau+Daily+Herald+%28WI%29&p_theme=gannett&p_product=WDHB&p_action=search&p_field_base-0=&p_text_base-0=%22chad+sharon%22&p_perpage=10&p_maxdocs=200&p_queryname=700&s_search_type=keyword&p_sort=_rank_%3AD&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=
attended Notre Dame (Catholic U.)
see: http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/...r.Later.Nd.Remembers.Chad.Sharon-605495.shtml
21. Josh Guimond, 21 (MN) MISSING
attended St. Johns
(Catholic U.)
20. Michael Noll, 22 (WI)
3/29/2003
Resurrection Church, Rochester, MN
(Catholic)
website: http://www.resurrection-catholic.org
see: http://media.www.spectatornews.com/...ll-Found.In.Half.Moon.Lake-400974-page2.shtml
19. Chris Jenkins, 21 (MN)
Pax Christi Church, Eden Prairie, MN
(Catholic)
website: http://www.paxchristi.com
18. Craig Burrows, 23 (WI)
10/8/2002
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Eu Claire, WI
(Protestant)
Lakeview Cemetery
see: http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-MOMENTSOBITS.asp?id=16247
17. Chris Nordby, 27 (MN)
16. Eric Blair, 18 (MI)
from: Bay City MI
(Bay City Times)
15. Ryan Katcher, 19 (IL)
8/2/2006
First Baptist Church, Danville IL
(Baptist)
see: http://www.commercial-news.com/archivesearch/local_story_209234659.html
14. Brian Welzien, 21 (IL)
3/2000
Apostolic Christian Church, Elgin IL
(Baptist)
see: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5273/is_200003/ai_n20559342
see: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5273/is_200003/ai_n20559447?tag=rel.res2
13. Patrick Runningen, 23 (WI)
12. Ken Christiansen, 19 (MN)
11. Nathan Edberg, 21 (MN) MISSING
10. Jeffrey Geesey, 21 (WI)
5/1999
Grace Baptist Church, Plover WI
(Baptist)
see: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/rivertragedies/geesey2.php
09. Trevor Hoheisel, 27 (IL)
3/14/1998
St. Mary's Church, Waverly, MN
(Catholic)
see: http://www.herald-journal.com/obits/1998/hoheisel0398.html
08. Keith Noble, 19 (OH)
from: Worthington OH
(obituary might be available for a fee from Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com )
07. Nathan Kapfer, 19 (WI)
4/13/1998
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Glendive MT
(Protestant)
Dawson Memorial Cemetary, Glendive MT
see: http://members.tripod.com/~wittygal/nathan.html
06. Ryan Getz, 21 (MI)
4/24/1998
Immaculate Conception Church, Lapeer, MI
(Catholic)
Mt. Loretto Cemetery,
site: http://www.lapeercatholic.org/
see: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...rpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
05. Anthony Skifton, 19 (WI)
10/14/1997
St. James The Less Catholic Church, LaCrosse WI
(Catholic)
site: http://www.saintjameschurch.net/
see: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/rivertragedies/skifton3.php
04. Charles Blatz, 28 (WI)
from: Kiel WI
03. Richard Hlavaty, 19 (WI)
02. Patrick McNeil, 21 (NY)
from: Port Chester NY
01. Morgan White, 19 (MI)
from: London, UK
Unconfirmed - Dale Shields (MI)

If you take the list from Detective Gannon via KSTP:

Wisconsin

1) Charles Blatz
Don't know yet

2) Anthony Skifton
Catholic church funeral

3) Nathan Kapfer
Protestant church funeral

4) Jeffrey Geesey
Protestant (Baptist) church funeral

5) Craig Burrows
Protestant church funeral

6) Michael Noll
Catholic church funeral

7) Nathan Herr
Don't know yet

8) Jared Dion
Catholic church funeral

9) Joshua Snell
Protestant church funeral

10) Cullen Fortney
Survivor/Don't know yet

11) Kenji Ohnri
Don't know yet

12) Lucas Homan 21 yrs
Catholic church funeral

Minnesota

1) Ken Christiansen
Don't know yet

2) Christopher Nordby
Don't know yet
(Here is his obituary, by the way:
http://www.legacy.com/startribune/obituaries.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=225199
)

3) Christopher Jenkins
Catholic church funeral

4) Joshua Guimond
Missing/Catholic university

5) Jeremy Stienkeoway
4/15/2003 Lord of Life Church Ramsey, MN
Protestant
site: http://www.lol.org/
http://www.legacy.com/startribune/obituaries.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=934858
http://www.legacy.com/startribune/obituaries.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=940406

6) Patrick Kycia
Catholic church funeral

7) Scott Radel
Protestant church funeral

There's a lot of "don't know"s on my list, but I count 6 Catholic funerals and 6 Protestant so far, plus one unknown who attended a Catholic university. That's improbable:

According to the following link, Minnesota is 57.1% Protestant and 25.0% Catholic, Wisconsin 52.6% Protestant and 31.0% Catholic.

http://www.beliefnet.com/politics/re...filiation.html

I know that Josh Szostak attended a Catholic High School.

As I posted in another thread, I don't think these stats are too meaningful. Too many non-Catholic denominations forbid alcohol, as do LDS. Plus, both MN and WI have a high proportion of people of German (and Czech/Polish) extraction. It's a culture with alcohol consumption as a social norm.
Just my opinion.

Great job, Sherlock! Wow!

Peculiar Petunia said:

As I posted in another thread, I don't think these stats are too meaningful. Too many non-Catholic denominations forbid alcohol, as do LDS. Plus, both MN and WI have a high proportion of people of German (and Czech/Polish) extraction. It's a culture with alcohol consumption as a social norm.
Just my opinion.

Click to expand...

LOL, just because the LDS forbid alcohol doesn't necessarily mean the students would abide by that. The biggest drinkers in my high school, years and years ago, were LDS. They just didn't tell their parents!

As a matter of fact, I found the LDS and those that had attended catholic school up to that point, to be the wildest on campus. Like they'd been let out of a cage or something. Making up for lost time? or trying to prove something either to themselves or everyone else. IF their parents only knew!:crazy:

JMHO
fran

fran said:

LOL, just because the LDS forbid alcohol doesn't necessarily mean the students would abide by that. The biggest drinkers in my high school, years and years ago, were LDS. They just didn't tell their parents!

As a matter of fact, I found the LDS and those that had attended catholic school up to that point, to be the wildest on campus. Like they'd been let out of a cage or something. Making up for lost time? or trying to prove something either to themselves or everyone else. IF their parents only knew!:crazy:

JMHO
fran

Click to expand...

Oh this is so true and it is because they've been let out of the cage.

ETA: and they also don't tell their bishops. lol.

Peculiar Petunia said:

As I posted in another thread, I don't think these stats are too meaningful. Too many non-Catholic denominations forbid alcohol, as do LDS. Plus, both MN and WI have a high proportion of people of German (and Czech/Polish) extraction. It's a culture with alcohol consumption as a social norm.
Just my opinion.

Click to expand...

Thanks for weighing in! I'm from Utah but not LDS. I was raised Southern Baptist and have lots of family in the bible belt. Most of them are drinkers. Now I know they complain about about liquor purchase laws are strict and yet they are allowed to drive with open containers in their cars. So my question is, what Mainstream non-Catholic religions forbid drinking? The LDS church is the only one I can think of.

Being smackdab in the Bible belt, I can tell you most Christian churches here do not approve of drinking. Southern Baptists are one of the most outspoken and aggressive of all the churches here. (I have seen them repeatedly turn funerals into "revivals"!) The Baptists have quite a few "splinter" groups, too, which take their religion to extremes.

Offhand, I can think of a few other Protestant groups forbidding alcohol: Church of Christ, Church of the Nazarenes, and the Pentacostals.
Do the Methodists today?

Thanks guys, I guess my family are bunch of black sheeps. lol. And that doesn't surprise me. I was briefly a member of and married in the Church of Christ (my fav so far, I'm still exploring) and we all drank. And that was in Utah. Hmmmm, is it a regional thing within a faith? In other words, is the Rocky Mountain Church of Christ different than an Indiana one?

SS, the extreme splinter groups is why my parents left. They also felt the entire Baptist movement forgot what the point of their faith was and began alienating people for the wrong reasons.

SuziQ--I must apologize. I was getting the Church of Christ confused with the Church of God (Anderson) out of Indiana.
I think there are religions where some local congregations have tougher rules, or synods that have tougher rules. Some RLDS (now Community of Christ) friends of mine, for instance, drank wine because it was found in the Bible, but no other spirits.