On February 12, Dr. Joe Aldrich passed from this life into life eternal with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. More than a great man of God and of prayer, he was family; the uncle of my wife, Linda, and younger brother of my mother-in-law, Jane Aldrich Brown. While his death saddens us all, we see it as an act of mercy. For fifteen years, Joe had suffered with Parkinson's Disease and only five days before his death, had been placed in a nursing home as the difficulty of his care became too much any more for the family, led by his wife, Ruthie. And since his father, Dr. Willard Aldrich, turned 100 in January, Joe could have remained alive for many more years; but this as you might imagine would not have been living. He is now whole and at peace in that wonderful place we call heaven.
Dr. Joe as he was affectionately known by students and faculty alike at Multnomah University was the president of that institution for nearly twenty years prior to contracting Parkinson's Disease in the early 1990s. In addition, it was 20 years ago this month that Joe founded and facilitated the very first Pastors' Prayer Summit in Salem, OR, as part of his vision/initiative at that time called Northwest Renewal. It was his belief that if pastors across denominational lines would come together to pray and to seek the face of their common Creator and Lord, entire churches and communities would be renewed with fresh wind and fire. And they have. Since then, nearly 2,000 Prayer Summits have taken place in over 40 states and nearly 30 nations throughout the world under the auspices of International Renewal based in Portland, OR.
A well-respected national Christian leader (seen in this picture with Dr. Billy Graham) and author of many books, his work entitled, Lifestyle Evangelism became a classic. His vision was the impetus for the founding of Multnomah Biblical Seminary in Portland, OR. His love for students and his lasting imprint on Multnomah University and Biblical Seminary was memorialized in the naming of the Joseph C. Aldrich Student Center (JAC) dedicated in 2007.
If you would like to express that to his family, please send a note to [email protected]
Thank you for publishing this.
Multnomah University has published a post on our blog where folks may also respond at:
http://blogs.multnomah.edu/university
There will also be a follow-up retrospective this week.
Posted by: Multnomah University | February 14, 2009 at 01:23 PM