THE REV. DOCTOR REBECCA S. ERB,  March 27, 1939 – October 13, 2024

     Born in Marion, Ohio, Rebecca was educated in the Caledonia, Ohio public schools.  She received her bachelors’ degree from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, and earned a masters of science in Family Dynamics from the University of Rhode Island at Kingston.  Her theological diplomas, a Bachelors of Divinity, a Masters of Divinity, and  Doctor of Ministry were all granted by Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri, a seminary of the United Church of Christ,.  She was ordained into the ministry of the United Church of Christ May 1, 1966 and thus was a pioneer for women in ministry.

     While at Eden, she married her classmate, Charles E. Erb, now more commonly known as Chuck.  Upon graduation they served, sometimes together, more frequently separately, parishes and settings of ministry in ten different states.  While still in seminary she served in field work assignments at the Kenwood-Ellis Community Center in Chicago, Caroline Mission, St. Louis, and an inner city ecumenical ministry in Cincinnati, and in the summer of 1963, the year she and Chuck were married, three months in Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Colorado with a National Council of Churches venture entitled “A Christian Ministry in the National Parks.”  Throughout her life, she was a frequent accompanist for various choirs and choruses and also served periodically as a substitute organist.  Among her passions were quilting, poetry, journaling, and travel.  She and Chuck managed to get themselves into all fifty US states, all Canadian provinces, and five of the seven continents.  She professed no interest in wading through penguin poop in Antarctica.

     They are the proud and adoring parents of two children, Stephen Charles Smith-Erb (Ellen) of Cumberland Center, and Susan Rebecca Erb (Dr. Guy Matthew Phillip Coates), of Arkesden, United Kingdom, and two grandchildren, Hannah Louise Smith-Erb, and Matthew Charles Smith-Erb.