La Crescenta pastor, 62, dies

Gary Moskowitz

GLENDALE -- Family, patients and congregation members expressed shock

and sadness Wednesday by the death of the Rev. Bill Schirmer, 62, who

loved ones said had shown no major signs of illness.

Schirmer died Tuesday at his home in Glendale from heart failure.

The Church of Religious Science pastor had served in Glendale,

Fillmore and Santa Clarita before coming to La Crescenta in 1985. He was

born Aug. 18, 1938, in Queens, N.Y., and moved to Glendale in 1975.

Ali Woodward, Schirmer’s daughter, said her father made a big decision

to pursue a career in chiropractic medicine and later as a pastor instead

of acting, a decision he never looked back from.

Schirmer would be a featured educational speaker at several state

meetings and in 1976 was named chairman of the Department of Chiropractic

Principles and Practice by the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. In

1998, he completed a chiropractic rehabilitation course.

“His work was very important, and I think a lot of people hold him

close in their hearts,” Woodward said of her father, a past president of

the Verdugo Hills Chiropractic Society. “He helped people physically and

spiritually.”

Eldon Harris, assisting minister at the church, said it was like “a

bomb exploding” when he learned of Schirmer’s death.

“I’ve known no one who has left a bigger void than the one left by

Bill’s death,” Harris said. “Nobody had a better friend than Bill.”

When still in New York, Schirmer began incorporating ideas like

scientific prayer from the Church of Religious Science into his holistic

approach to treating patients with aches and pains.

“In a lot of ways, he was an innovator,” Woodward said. “He would

attend collective meetings with holistic doctors in New York to discuss

new techniques and ideas.”

Woodward said she would also remember her father for his loud,

boisterous laugh that often embarrassed her as a young child. It’s a

laugh she remembers with a fondness.

Schirmer hosted a weekly series, “Greater Good for You,” on local

cable television, in which readings were given and Schirmer’s Sunday

services were broadcast.

In the time they had been friends, Harris had never known his friend

and pastor to have one unhealthy day.

Survivors include his wife, Phyllis; children, Drew, Beth, Lynne,

Katha Kerr and her husband Andrew, and Alexandra Woodward and her husband

Scott; and grandchildren, Ryan Kerr, Danielle Kerr and Lindsay Woodward.

SERVICE FOR THE MINISTER

* A memorial service for the Rev. Bill Schirmer will be at 3 p.m.

Sunday at the La Crescenta Church of Religious Science, 4845 Dunsmore

Ave.

* In lieu of flowers, family asks that donations be made to the La

Crescenta Church of Religious Science, 4845 Dunsmore Ave., La Crescenta,

CA, 91214.