Memorial Service for Rev. Robert Graetz, Jr. to Be Held Sunday in Montgomery
The family of Rev. Robert S. Graetz, Jr. has announced the details of a memorial service to be held in Montgomery on Sunday.
Graetz will be remembered as a champion for civil rights in Montgomery and a key figure in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He died Sunday, September 20, at the age of 92.
Rev. Graetz and his wife Jean came to Montgomery in 1955 and were friends of Rosa Parks. He was the white pastor of the Black Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church and was the only local white clergyman to support the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The Graetz family faced harassment and bombings because of their involvement in the boycott.
The memorial service will be held virtually on Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT.
The memorial service for Rev. Graetz will stream live from Montgomery’s historic First Baptist Brick-a-Day Church. The church was an important gathering place for activities related to the Civil Rights Movement and became associated with the Montgomery Bus Boycott’s mass meetings and the Freedom Rides of May 1961.
Only family members and memorial speakers may be present at the church service due to the family’s desire that no one be exposed to COVID-19.
After the pandemic has subsided, a public celebration of Rev. Graetz’s life is planned, which will be open to the public.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to either of the following non-profits:
The Graetz Foundation
1558 Dunbar St.
Montgomery, AL 36106
or
The Alabama State University Foundation’s fund for The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights & African-American Culture, which may be reached electronically at www.alasu.edu/giving or mailed to The Alabama State University Foundation, P.O. Box 1046, Montgomery, AL 36101.
