- Date Of Birth: August 8, 1916
- Date Of Death: March 23, 2019
- State: Connecticut
Rev. Valdeko Kangro (102) of Andover CT, passed away in his home on Saturday, March 23, 2019. He will be greatly missed by the Estonian Ev.
Born on August 8, 1916, in Tartu, Estonia, he graduated from the Hugo Treffner High School in 1934 and from the Advanced School of Music three years later. Already at that early time, his studies included religion at the University of Tartu.
The events of World War II took him to Sweden from where he was chosen to attend the Andover Newton Theological Seminary (at Newton Center, MA). He graduated in 1951 with a B.D. degree. Interestingly, his thesis was Montanism!
From 1949-1952 he was teaching strings and Chamber music at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota. And in 1954 he became the Head of the Music Department at the Northeastern Bible Institute in Pennsylvania.
Valdeko’s knowledge of the Bible was phenomenal. His expressions frequently referred to the Book as the basic truth. Beginning in 1968, he became the assistant pastor for the E.E.L.K. (Estonian Ev.
His religious work took him to Canada as the pastor of the United Congregation and also the St. Peter’s Congregation in Vancouver. He was ordained by Archbishop Konrad Veem on November 2, 1971 in Stockholm as the E.E.L.K. USA First Deanery vicar pastor.
Valdeko finally arrived in Connecticut, where the congregation elected him to serve as pastor in early 1973.
But the Estonian population in southern Florida attracted him to warmer climates. With many hours of travel, he also served the South Florida St. Paul Congregation, starting in 1996. When long travels and his age became the difficulties in later years, he mainly served the local congregation.
