John Gittings
WiscNews
(TNS)
Jul. 11—Friends of the six family members from three generations who died in a fire at an unlicensed rental house in rural Juneau County on June 30 are raising funds in their memory.
Steve Witte, 66, a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) pastor who led organization missions in Asia, was home on furlough from a mission in Thailand when he and five family members died in an early morning blaze at W5040 Morros Mile Road in the town of Germantown, south of Necedah, Lee Hitter, synod communication services director, said.
Witte’s daughters, Charis Kuehl, 38, and Lydia Witte, 35, and grandchildren Stella Kuehl, 5, and Lena Henselin, 8, and Merci Henselin, 2, also died in the fire.
Steve Witte’s wife, Mary, was one of 14 people who survived the blaze. Other survivors included Karl and Hannah Henselin, the parents of Lena and Merci, and Stephen Kuehl, Charis’ husband and Stella’s father. The Kuehls’ other two daughters, Norah and Vera, also survived the fire.
Hannah Henselin is the lone surviving daughter of Steve and Mary Witte following the blaze. Witte is also survived by the couple’s two sons, Seth and Micah.
“We who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord,” said Karl Henselin.
“On behalf of our entire synod, I want to assure these families that they are in our prayers,” WELS president Mark Schroeder said in a statement. “We pray that God will remind them of his grace and promises and bring healing to them. We pray that he will continue to help them to hold on to his assurance that he will never leave them or forsake them.”
Schroeder has said the extended family had been staying at a vacation rental near Wisconsin Dells.
The house was not licensed as a rental property, Wood County Health Department Environmental Health supervisor Ben Jeffrey said. He said he did not know why the house was being used as a rental despite not being licensed nor has his department received a rental permit application for the house.
“Short-term rental properties operating without a license can be an issue at times for areas that experience higher rates of tourism with new property owners that may be unaware of licensing requirements,” he said.
The Environmental Health division of the Wood County Health Department also covers Juneau and Adams Counties.
According to his WELS obituary, Steve Witte was born in Michigan and was a pastor for two churches in northeast Wisconsin for 24 years. He worked at Emanuel Lutheran Church in New London from July 1985 to August 2001 before moving to Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Green Bay, where he was a pastor from August 2001 to August 2009.
After working at the Wisconsin churches, Witte began his work in Asia. He was president of the Asia Lutheran Seminary in Hong Kong from 2009 to 2023 before becoming team leader for the WELS’ Asia One Team.
Larry Schlomer, the WELS Board for World Missions administrator, worked with Witte for 12 years in world missions for WELS and referred to him as a “colleague and friend.”
“If you met Steve, you couldn’t talk for long without talking about Jesus,” Schlomer said. “He was a bundle of energy and enthusiasm and would put everyone at ease with his common sense mixed with humor.”
Schlomer said there were reports of efforts to save survivors by Witte and others in the family in the fire but declined to comment further at the families’ requests.
The Asia One Team has 16 missionaries that “equip, encourage, and empower others to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to 1.8 billion unreached souls throughout Asia,” WELS states on its website.
Schlomer said that Witte trained men from Asia to be pastors and Lutheran teachers in Hong Kong and oversaw work by missionaries and partners in Thailand and other Asian countries when he led the Asia One Team.
Lydia Witte, who was born in New London, previously worked as a religious educator in Beijing, China, between 2015 and 2016, according to her obituary. She also worked at Hope House of South Central Wisconsin in Baraboo, along with the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault after returning from China, the obituary indicates.
“As Hope House’s staff attorney, Lydia represented survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault free of charge,” said Jessica Kaehny, the Community Education Program manager at Hope House. “Her gentleness and compassion shone through as she supported survivors throughout all stages of the criminal justice system.”
Attempts to reach the Witte and Kuehl families were unsuccessful.
Juneau County Sheriff Andrew Zobal said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Authorities have said the fire appeared to be accidental.
The Sheriff’s Office is working with the state fire marshal in the investigation surrounding the fire. Fire departments from New Lisbon and Necedah also responded to the fire and are working with the Sheriff’s Office in the investigation as well.
Online fundraisers
Multiple online fundraisers have been started in honor of the family since the fire. The Steve Witte Memorial Scholarship is designed to help Lutheran Seminary students in Asia, and the family and WELS request donations to the scholarship fund to help continue spreading Steve Witte’s message in Asia.
A GoFundMe account for Stephen Kuehl, Charis Kuehl’s husband and father of their three children, including Stella, had raised more than $160,000. The fundraiser, organized by family friend Andrew Naumann, has a $250,000 goal.
GiveSendGo.com has a fundraiser for the Henselin family, which had raised about $90,000. The fundraiser, started by family friend Wendy Kuschel, does not have a goal amount.
A funeral for Steve and Lydia Witte took place Tuesday at St. Mark Lutheran Church in De Pere. Hitter said Lydia Witte was a member of St. Mark Lutheran, as are Hannah and Karl Henselin.
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