Pastor
Pastor Russell Graef grew up in Wisconsin. After graduating from High School he attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where he majored in Philosophy and Classics. After graduating in 1979 he attended Luther-Northwestern Theological Seminary in St. Paul, MN. During this time he met his wife, Dennice, and they were married in 1982. He graduated with the M.Div. degree in 1983 and served as pastor for congregations in Wisconsin and Minnesota from 1983-1995. During his time serving these congregations, he attended Luther-Northwestern and earned the M.Th. degree in Church History. In 1995 he accepted a call to serve as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy. As a chaplain, he served five tours with the U.S. Navy and five tours with the U. S. Marine Corps. During his military service he made deployments to the FIFTH Fleet and Afghanistan. Chaplain Graef retired from the Navy in 2019 after 24 years of honorable service. Following retirement, Russ and Dennice started attending Prince of Peace. He was accepted as a pastor in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod through the Colloquy process and, because Prince of Peace had a pastoral vacancy, he accepted a call by the congregation in 2021. Pastor Graef and Dennice have two children, Erik, who lives in Raleigh NC, and Britta, who lives with her husband, Josh, in Tulsa OK.