| Born: | 11/04/1948 - Eudunda, South Australia |
| Departed: | 18/02/2024 - Royal Adelaide Hospital Aged 75 years |
I came to know Peter when I was a university student while he served as tertiary chaplain in Melbourne. I completed two degrees and a graduate diploma so benefited from Pete's ministry for quite some time. The graduate diploma was one that Peter personally recommended after having completed the same course.
He arranged share accomodation for me which resulted in what so far has been an almost 30 year partnership with my husband (Leigh Wedding). He prepared us for marriage and subsequently married us. He married many of our friends also.
As a student leader in LSF I spent a lot of time with Pete, hanging out in his office on campus, and driving to regional Victoria to speak at Lutheran women's conferences about tertiary ministry. Peter shepherded and nourished many who became leaders in our church. He was creative and encouraged outside the box thinking. I recall thinking at the time that he needed someone to moderate him a little lest he stray too far.
The annual Pastor Pete's Pizza Parties were legendary. His annual blessing of the fleet in the basement car park at St Johns, Southgate - another memory of being cared for. The annual Fool's Feast - held on or close to April 1st where we celebrated our connection to Christ as humble fools. He loved sharing worship music and I always thought we were pretty special to get to road test Robin Mann's newest songs before the rest of the church got to get their hands on them.
Pete was gracious and forgiving. He lived as if he knew that others were doing the best they could with the resources and knowledge they had even if that negatively impacted him.
I recall many hours in the car with him. Some spent in a little tiny car (the Nikki) which he drove as if he was in a computer game, zipping in and out of traffic- terrifying! I also remember camps where this tiny car afforded a challenge to students to see how many students they could fit in or on the car at once, and whether they could lift the car and put it in some impossible place. Distance driving had a soporific impact on Peter and I was occassionally required to talk to him to keep him awake on long trips.
We shared an interest in sustainable house design. I'm so pleased that he and Deborah got to build their passive solar home and realise this dream. I hope I get to Robertstown soon to see it.
Feel truly blessed to have shared time and space with Peter he played a significant role in my development as a young adult.
Posted by Tiffany Westphal 12/03/2024
Peter was one of those friends you could simply pick up with immediately even though your paths may not have crossed for a considerable period. At Immanuel College and at the three universities in which he enrolled (Adelaide, Brisbane and Monash) Peter was motivated above all by the opportunity to explore far and wide outside the curriculum and follow up topics of interest, as is the habit of the truly curious student of life in its infinite variety. His wide ranging gifts will be well covered in the tributes at the funeral, but let me mention in particular his engaging personality, his ready sense of humour, his love of all things farming, and his gift for telling relatable stories to convey the priceless message of the gospel. Helen and I will possibly won't miss the hair-raising trips up hill and down dale on the farm in Peter's motorised buggy, hanging on for dear life, as his gaze ranged nonchalantly over the far horizon. However we will miss his smile and his welcome. Now at rest in God's peace, a sadly missed friend.
In the photo. Peter Lockwood Denise Grieshaber Deborah Helen and Peter. Celebrating in the Barossa Helen and Deborah turning 70.
Posted by Peter Lockwood 11/03/2024
Hermannsberg, Peter is making Gingerbeer.
Posted by Mitzi 11/03/2024
We have a memory of dear Peter from 1970, when he was a poor student like the rest of us. He took a job selling napery door to door, and needed to practise his spiel, so we spent an evening of hysterical laughter while he took out tablecloths and napkins from his case and laid then out for inspection. We did buy a blue and gold tablecloth, and I'm sure many other friends also were charmed into purchases.
One morning when Peter had dropped by for breakfast he set the kitchen curtains on fire, but since in our unplumbed kitchen a bucket of water was at hand, the house did not burn down. We have precious memories of times with Peter. Peter and Gillian Mickan
Posted by Peter Mickan 11/03/2024
TW's visit to Robertstown, 27/7/16
Posted by TW 09/03/2024
With Pastor Simon Dixon, 27/11/09 (TW's 30th birthday party in Alice Springs)
Posted by TW 09/03/2024
With thanks, love and Blessings. Bec, Mitz and Annalise
Posted by Bec 09/03/2024
Pete Pfitzner brings two things to mind. Firstly, he was the pastor for LSF for a bloody long time, and that's significant. Being the pastor for uni students is no easy thing. The congregation is always changing and uni students aren't always the easiest to connect with. Pete seemed to build relationships readily with newcomers to LSF, however, and he never seemed to have the awkwardness that a lot of other older people - especially pastors - have when they try to connect with younger people. He never tried to be cool or charismatic. He was himself, and himself formed the foundation of connections that saw so many continue to attend LSF even after they were done with uni or hadn't gone to uni at all. I've rarely seen a better fit of a spiritual leader and their ministry.
The second thing that Pete Pfitzner brings to mind is his smile. He always seemed to be in a good mood. A smile or a laugh never seemed far from his face. That too is significant. Joy is a blessing, and sharing that joy even more so. Pete did so freely and easily. Any conversation with him was bound to be brightened at some point by his smile, and I don't think I ever saw him greet anyone without a big, beaming grin.
All of us who knew him were greatly blessed by that smile, and for all of us now the day is definitely dimmer with it gone.
Posted by Dan Benbow 02/03/2024
Here's my last photo with Dad before his stroke - it was late last year when Dad & Deb were visiting Melbourne.
I can't remember what we talked about, but my instinct is to wish we'd talked more that day, about more important matters, or with greater appreciation for a moment like that. But over the short time since his death, I've been reflecting on a lot of my memories of him. Not just from chats we'd had, but also the way I witnessed how he went about life, how people spoke about him and hearing people share their memories and stories of Dad (including on a message board like this one!). That experience has been tremendously valuable and has taken the form of an ongoing conversation through memories...and I'm sure it'll continue for a long time!
Posted by Isaac 27/02/2024
To Dad on memorial page
Somebody asked me recently if I had been close to my dad. I was a little surprised by the question. I thought: Of course I am! But then I realized I’d always taken for granted the easy relationship we’d had with each other.
I’ve been reading through some of the texts and messages from people around my age and older who know Dad, especially during his years as a university chaplain in the 80s and 90s. These have shown me a side of him that I only caught glimpses of at the time: a man with a great sense of humour, who was quick to smile and loved to explore the Bible with the young adults at Melbourne and Monash Universities and at the evening service at St John’s Southbank.
I still remember standing in the kitchen washing the dishes with my brother Isaac and Dad telling us: ‘I couldn’t ask for two finer sons’. At the time I thought it was cheesy (I was 19, Zac was 17) but over the weeks that followed I kept thinking about that statement and took pride in it.
Over the past 25 years Dad and I have been separated by geography, living interstate from each other, getting together once or twice per year. But each time we caught up with Dad and Deb was a precious experience for me and my family, especially when we got together on the farm.
At the start of 2020 Dad fell off the hay shed and was paralysed. It was frightening to see him so weak and vulnerable, especially as he’d always been someone who had a sense of adventure and happily took risks on a regular basis.
Through the slow process of his recovery, supported by Deborah, he kept up his sense of humour and an approach to life that showed he was receiving it as a daily gift from God. He seemed satisfied, and I think that’s because he was where he wanted to be (on his family’s land) and he had spent his life the way he wanted to: investing in people, commending Jesus to others and exploring this wide brown land.
We'll miss you dad. Love from René, Louisa, Tobi, Bruce and Freya.
Posted by Rene Pfitzner 27/02/2024
Peter & Deb with Monica & Ivan Christian, January 2024.
(L-R: Ivan, Deb, Monica, Peter)
Posted by Zoé 26/02/2024
Please share your memories and photos of Peter with us, his loving family.
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Welcome everyone!
Peter's family have created this space so that those who knew him could share their memories and/or photos of him.
There's no need to be too formal here, but we know that so many people have such wonderful stories of Peter, that it would be great to collate them all.
Posts cannot be edited, so if you make a mistake, please simply repost how you'd prefer it to appear, and contact Peter's family to have the original post deleted.
Thank you. And we look forward to the comfort and warmth of sharing our memories together.
With love,
Zoé ('Zeddy'), Isaac ('Zac'), René ('Ren'), Ariel ('Ari'), and Deborah ('Deb').
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Beloved husband to Deborah Myers.
Loved father and father-in-law to
René and Louisa
Isaac and Rebecca
Zoé
Ariel and Eva
Xavier (dec).
Loved grandpa to
Tobias, Bruce, Freya, Ivy, Riley, Calvin, Lia.
Loved brother to
Helen and Wayne
Joanne and Masoud.
Uncle to
Minna and Alex, Jesse and Mai, Raphael,
Aïsha, Imran and Eva.
All in God’s care.
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Posted by Zoe Ellis 25/02/2024
