Forgiveness and Peace

Churchgoers honor Ratzmann's 'good'

By STEVE SCHULTZE

Posted: March 18, 2005

Terry Ratzmann was laid to rest quietly Friday, at a private service emphasizing forgiveness and attended by a few dozen fellow church members, including some survivors of his shooting rampage.

About half of the 75 people who attended were from the local Living Church of God congregation that Ratzmann sprayed with bullets just six days earlier before taking his own life.

The rest in attendance Friday were Ratzmann family members, including his mother and two sisters, said Thomas Geiger, a member and spokesman for the local congregation.

Seven church members were killed and four wounded by Ratzmann a week ago before he shot himself.

His service was at Alstadt-Tyborski McLeod Funeral Service, 4800 S. 84th St. To avoid having "gapers and wackos" intrude, service details were secret, Geiger said.

Church members registered their names with a church official if they wanted to attend and received a call disclosing the location just before the service, he said.

Despite the havoc the 44-year-old Ratzmann wreaked on his congregation, Geiger said, church members heard a mostly upbeat message of forgiveness and hope.

"We hugged and cried over this, even Terry's family," said Geiger. "We've made our peace with them."

Geiger, like some of the others in attendance, had family members killed or wounded in the rampage at the Brookfield Sheraton hotel.

Among them was Bart Oliver, Geiger's nephew. After attending Ratzmann's funeral and getting a quick bite for lunch, Geiger and his family moved on to the 15-year-old's funeral, held at the Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha.

Glenn Diekmeier, who survived last weekend's shootings and whose father, Harold, was killed, attended the Ratzmann funeral.

A funeral for Gloria Critari, 55, of Cudahy also was held Friday evening at Prasser-Kleczka Funeral Home in Milwaukee. Like funerals for other shooting victims, services for Oliver and Critari were closed to news coverage.

The final funeral for the shooting victims will be for Gerald Miller, 44, of Erin.

That service was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today at Joyce-Ryan Funeral Home in Verona.

Pastor Glen Gilchrist officiated at Ratzmann's funeral and "attempted to honor Terry for all the good he did and recognized that some of the great men of the Bible did some heinous things," Geiger said.

No chance to repent

He mentioned King David and others who committed horrible acts but later repented.

"Unfortunately, Terry didn't have time to repent," Geiger said. "But God may provide a provision for that."

The Living Church of God teaches that people have a second chance to repent when Christ returns to Earth.

Gilchrist, a former pastor of the Milwaukee group and close to Ratzmann, couldn't be reached Friday.

Ratzmann was generous to friends and family throughout his adult years and gave few clues of his potential for harm, Geiger said.

Like others in his church, Geiger said that Ratzmann's murderous acts appeared to be the work of the devil.

Ratzmann, a New Berlin computer technician, joined the Worldwide Church of God, the predecessor church to the Living Church of God, about 20 years ago.

He grew orchids and other exotic plants, enjoyed travel and made scented boutique soaps as hobbies.

He never married and lived with his mother and a sister.

Ratzmann also was a Coast Guard veteran, and taps was played at the close of his funeral. Church officials and his family have not disclosed where he was to be buried.

'History of depression'

Shirley Ratzmann, Terry's mother, told authorities in a Waukesha County medical examiner's report that her son "had a history of depression relating to job problems for the last couple of years."

His mother also said Ratzmann didn't express suicidal thoughts and did not see a doctor for the depression.

Friends have said Ratzmann acknowledged suicidal feelings a decade ago and had bought a handgun that he slept with.

Shirley Ratzmann also told the medical examiner that "her son did not agree with the new pastor's point of view," although she did not elaborate.

That pastor, Randy Gregory, and his 16-year-old son, James, were killed by Ratzmann. Marjean Gregory, the pastor's wife, remains hospitalized in serious condition, Geiger said.

The three others who were wounded in the shootings have been released, Geiger said.

Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher said Friday that investigators still were uncertain about Ratzmann's motive in the shootings. No significant information has been gleaned so far from the four computers Ratzmann had, Bucher said.

Lisa Sink of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
_____________________________

Thomas Geiger lost his nephew, fifteen year-old Bart Oliver, in Terry Ratzmann's shooting rampage.

"We hugged and cried over this, even Terry's family," said Geiger. "We've made our peace with them."

It's remarkable that within a week of the bloody church meeting on March 12, 2005, some members have accepted the murders and have managed to forgive.

Geiger's comments, that they've made peace with Ratzmann's family, reveal a grace that borders on the divine.