Roger Phillip Drews departed this earthly life for his Heavenly Home on March 9, 2020 at the age of 83. He was preceded in death by his sister Evelyn and his brother Douglas. He is survived by his loving wife, Sandra and 6 of his children, 16 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. Roger was born in Akron, OH. His family moved to Milwaukee when he was 7 years old. He attended Mt. Lebanon Lutheran School, the Old Milwaukee Lutheran High School, Northwestern Prep and Northwestern College in Watertown. He entered the Air force at the end of the Korean War and he be- came a medic. He considered becoming a doctor but decided he would rather save men's souls than their bodies. He came back to Wisconsin and went to the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon. He married Patricia Grasse while studying for the ministry and working as an appliance repairman. They had 3 children, Daniel, Joel and Mark by the time he graduated and was ordained in 1965. The first congregation he served was Good Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN. He accepted a call to St. John's Lutheran Church Howell Ave. in Oak Creek in 1972 and served there till 1983. During that time, he worked with the WELS radio ministries "Music for the Master" and "Message from the Master" and was known as the voice of the WELS. He was also instrumental in creating the program "Come to the WELS". In 1983 He became the executive director of National Lutherans for Life. He was an active advocate for pro-life and consequently decided to become a pastor in the ELCA where he felt he could best pass on this message. He became pastor at Mt. Moriah Lutheran in China Grove, NC in 1990. He loved this church and was totally accepted even though he was a "Yankee" in the south. In 1994 he accepted a call to Christ Lutheran Church in Madisonville, KY but in 1997 he was put on disability due to health problems and had to retire in 1999. Retirement bored him and he found stimulation in part-time selling cars and taking courses at MATC. He was an avid fisherman, hence his "handle" Fisher Rog – fisher of men and fisher of fish. He was a competitive bowler and won a number of gold medals in the Wisconsin Senior Olympics. He was awarded the first Senior Olympics Service Award in 2018. He sang with the Lutheran Chorale of Milwaukee for 25 years. He taught a Bible class on the last book of the Bible which he finally published as a book and commentary – "Revelation! What Did the FIRST Audience Hear?" (2012) His growing family was a source of joy. His oldest son Daniel (Wendy) died in 2011 leaving two sons, Jeremiah (Laura) with 3 great-grandchildren and Ezekiel (Stephanie) with 2 great-grandchildren. Son Joel (Susan) have two children, Nicholas (Tricia) and Hannah (Michael) Eggert with one great-grandchild. Son Mark (Melanie) have three daughters, Grace, Hope, and Joy. Son Jonathan (Lisa) have five children: Christine, Jason, Jake, Alex and Kyle. Daughter Laurel was adopted as a baby and brought some light to a masculine household. She lives in Fairbanks, AK but keeps in touch with all her siblings. Then along came Linda. She grew up in North Carolina where she still lives with her son, Sam. Ten years after Linda was born, they adopted Jennifer. She was a special baby and grew up to be a beautiful woman. She and her husband, Dan have two sons, Colin and Max. Stepdaughter Sue (James) Johnson have 2 children – Garrett and Rachael (Hayden) Jeter, with 3 great-grandchildren. His large family and his wonderful friends all over the country will miss him greatly. In 2004, Patricia, the wonderful mother of his children and his helpmate went to her glory. Roger's life was empty without her. He had a good friend who had gone through a similar loss two years before and whom he had known in his youth. He contacted her and their friendship blossomed into love and he married his high school sweetheart, Sandra, fifty years after they broke up. God blessed them with 15 years together where they were able to travel to Germany twice, London, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Moscow and other cities in between. On his birthday in January, they traveled to Riviera Maya and Cancun Mexico 12 years in a row. For several years in his retirement, he had a wedding ministry. Working on Thumbtack.com he contracted with couples who wanted a Christian wedding. Sometimes it was in church, others at outdoor venues. His counseling taught them the meaning of "agapѐ", to have no gap in their marriage between each other, as God has no gap with His children. That is the true meaning of Love. He was rated the top officiant in the Milwaukee area. In 2014 He received a call to try to revive Historic St. John's Lutheran Church on 8th and Vliet Street in Milwaukee. This was a challenge since the membership was down to two people. The church had been suspended from the WELS several years previously. He felt one of his ministry's greatest contributions was to grow that church and get it reinstated in the WELS. After that happened, he felt it was time to retire again. The church is valiantly struggling to grow and will be the site of his funeral. He will be greatly missed as he sat at the door of the church each Sunday and greeted people. "Well done thou good and faithful servant." Thank you to ALL the doctors and nurses at the Zablocki VA Medical Center. Special thanks to the supportive, caring and compassionate staff of the Palliative/Hospice Department at the VA. Visitation will be held Monday, March 16, 2020 from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM at St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church, 804 West Vliet Street. Funeral Service 12:30 PM. Memorials can be given to Historic St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church, 804 West Vliet Street, Milwaukee, 53205. Prasser-Kleczka Funeral Home South Suburban Chapel 414-282-6080