It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of two longtime friends of the In Trust Center.

Howard John Claussen, 81, died January 8, 2015. Howard served on the board of directors of the In Trust Theological Center from 2010 to 2014.

You can read Claussen's obituary here.

Dr. Harriet Tracy Schier, 74, died August 14, 2014. Tracy served as an In Trust Governance Mentor and was a member of the In Trust Writers Workshop.

Schier's obituary is available here. 
 

Christa Klein, In Trust president emerita, offers this reflection about Howard and Tracy:

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul names joy as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  In the last few months, the In Trust Center has lost two faithful Christians known for such joy.  Tracy Schier, former In Trust writer and Governance Mentor, and Howard Claussen, former In Trust Center board member, engaged those roles with infectious confidence and pleasure.

I first knew Tracy for her work in co-founding Boston College’s leadership institute for Catholic college administrators, as well as her work as a writer and project evaluator for Lilly Endowment’s Religion Division.  She was a natural for In Trust’s Governance Mentor program and readily learned to adapt her work with administrators to governing boards. She served diligently, and she was a fellow sailor, a calling that I shared.

I met Howard as a fellow member of the board of directors of Valparaiso University, our alma mater, and then as a board member for Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  His perceptive wisdom about leadership and institutions made him a natural candidate for the In Trust Center board, where he served diligently, including his assistance in finding a superb investment counselor.

Both Tracy and Howard fought cancer courageously; both leave spouses, children, and grandchildren who know the wonder of such a joyful spouse, parent, and grandparent.  May they rest in God’s eternal Light, where all their joy will be fulfilled.