James H. Pragman

The Rev. James H. Pragman, Th.D., passed from his earthly life to his heavenly life on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at the hospital in Mankato, MN. He departed peacefully following a brief illness due to Anaplastic thyroid cancer.

Visitation will be held at Mankato Mortuary on August 1, 2024, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. The Service of the Resurrection will be held at Hosanna Lutheran Church, Mankato, MN, on Friday, August 2, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., followed by a luncheon. The service will be live-streamed for those who cannot attend in person. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to St. John Lutheran Church of Seward, NE; Our Savior’s Lutheran Church of Mankato, MN; or Hosanna Lutheran Church of Mankato, MN.

Pastor Pragman was born to the Rev. Herbert C. and Esther C. (Gieseke) Pragman on September 26, 1938, in Boonville, MO. He was raised in Bunceton and St. Joseph, MO. His formal preparation for ministry began at St. Paul’s Lutheran High School and Junior College in Concordia, MO. Subsequently, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Senior College in Fort Wayne, IN. He then studied at Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO, where he earned his Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Theology, and Doctor of Theology degrees.

He married Claudia H. Copping on July 5, 1975, and they started their life together in Seward, NE, where their two daughters, Alexa and Alison, were born. In 1991, the Pragman family moved to Mankato, MN, where he was residing at the time of his death.

Pastor Pragman’s career included congregational, academic, and administrative ministries. From 1967 to 1970, he served as Associate Pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church in Kirkwood, MO. In 1970, he moved to Seward, NE, where he served as Professor of History and Theology at Concordia Teachers College from 1970 to 1986. Pastor Pragman served as Senior Pastor at St. John Lutheran Church from 1986 to 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Mankato, MN, from 1991 to 1998. His last years of professional ministry were spent as the Executive Assistant to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Minnesota South District President in Burnsville, MN, until 2003.

Survivors include his wife, Claudia; his daughter and son-in-law, Alexa Pragman and David Norton; daughter Alison Pragman; and grandchildren Oliver and Aurelia Norton. Additional survivors include his sisters, Martha Pakan and Sarah Pinion, brother-in-law John Pakan, eight nieces and nephews, and 17 great nieces and nephews. Survivors in Claudia’s family include her parents, Louise and Clarence Copping, her sister-in-law and brother, Donna and Clarence Copping, two nieces, and three great-nephews. Many close friends also mourn him.

Pastor Pragman was preceded in death by his parents; infant brother David; his sister and brother-in-law, Genevera and Dale Johnson; and brother-in-law, W. Dan Pinion.