John M. Wendel active with local parade for 10+ years
The Grand Marshal for Elmhurst’s 99th Memorial Day Parade is retired United States Air Force Brigadier General and Chaplain John M. Wendel, 83, an honored contributor to the parade and post-parade military ceremony and Elmhurst’s Veterans Day observances for more than a decade.
“What an honor,” stated Wendel. “It has been a pleasure to be included in Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances.”
His awards and medals include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with One Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Award with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and Air Force Training Ribbon.
Wendel also received a trio of Illinois National Guard honors, including Distinguished Service Medal Ribbon, Long Service Ribbon with Three Oak Leaf Clusters and Military Attendance Ribbon with Numeral 7.
“Serving God and country as a military chaplain has been a special blessing,” he said, “All three (of my) careers—pastor, teaching and military—have been a blessing.”
Prior to his 1993 retirement, Wendel earned promotions to Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel and the Brigadier General during his 20 years of service as a military chaplain.
Wendel was commissioned as a Captain in the Air Force on May 1, 1973, after being recommended to fill a chaplain vacancy in the 126th Air Refueling Wing (ARW) of the Illinois Air National Guard, then-based at O’Hare International Airport (and since 1999 at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville), where he served for eight years. Back then, he was part of the Baptist General Conference chaplains who served the 126th ARW for more than two decades.
“Pastor. Counselor. Teacher. The military chaplain, whose parish may be in his hometown or half way around the world is all three,” Wendel stated in a Missions In Action publication. “U.S. Air Force chaplains serve a worldwide parish of…men and women and their dependents.”
Wendel enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve at the age of 17 while still attending high school and served three years (instead of four) in what was known as “minority enlistment,” attending boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Station near North Chicago, the second largest military installation in the State of Illinois and the Navy’s sole recruit training facility since 1993.
Following his military retirement, Wendel continued serving in pastoral ministry and serves as one of the Pastors of Cityview Community Church in Elmhurst. He also travels regularly to multiple countries in Asia on work for a ministry he co-founded back in 1996.
A resident of Elmhurst, Wendel grew up in nearby Hinsdale and, after graduating high school, attended Wheaton College, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree (1956) while majoring in history.
Wendel continues pursuit of his Master of Divinity degree at Wheaton’s Graduate School. During his third year of seminary, he applied for and was accepted as a staff member of school’s archaeological excavation at the biblical city of Dothan, located in Israel’s West Bank some 60 miles north of Jerusalem.
After graduation from seminary, then 25-year-old Wendel accepted a call to serve as Pastor at a Naperville church, where his first met Grace Pradel, and they’ve been married for 56 years. The Wendels have four children who are all married and 10 grandchildren. Eleven family members serve as missionaries in South America.
