To celebrate Father Bob Gaestel’s retirement after more than four decades as rector, Pasadena’s Church of the Angels transformed its parish hall into a lively Italian restaurant for an old-fashioned spaghetti dinner.
“Father Bob said he didn’t want anything fancy, so we took him at his word,” said senior warden Jim Gruettner. “But he didn’t say it couldn’t be a whole lot of fun.”
For one night, the parish hall became Buca di Bob, glowing with red-checkered tablecloths, wax-dripped (battery-powered) candles in old wine bottles, café lights, and red geraniums. More than 130 parishioners and friends gathered for a festive dinner that filled the hall and spilled over onto the adjacent patio.
Members of Father Bob’s clergy support group, including the Rev. Larry Brown, the Rev. Canon Jerry Kahler, and the Rev. Canon Greg Larkin, offered the invocation and presented him with a stole woven by Canon Kahler, an accomplished weaver.
The parish choir opened the program with a playful Anglican chant, lovingly noting Father Bob’s well-established quirks with verses such as:
Father Bob has raised frugality to sacred art. *
Yea, verily, it is always Lent at our church.
His faithful companion, Slinky, is always by his side. *
Yet even Slinky must pay for his own kibble.
Tho’ we tease, blessed are we for these forty-two years; *
Of constancy, counsel, and Star Trek metaphors.
May joy and peace attend him all of his days; *
Here endeth our psalm, lest he be kept awake past nine.
Tracy Gaestel, his wife, was honored for establishing the parish’s Catechesis of the Good Shepherd children’s education program and for helping build a 10,000-book library at the Suubi School in Bukeka, Uganda. To encourage some well-deserved self-care, the parish presented her with a certificate to a local day spa and, in keeping with the Good Shepherd theme, a necklace featuring a lamb and a cross.
Father Bob received a variety of humorous and heartfelt gifts. These included a bottle of frankincense-scented cologne with the admonition to “smell good and stay holy,” and a pair of Vans sneakers decorated with a depiction of the church’s distinctive arches painted by parishioner Marielle Askew. Other gifts included original drawings by Marielle and her sister Evelyn Askew, and an illuminated rector emeritus certificate illustrated by Quentin Peacock.
Before the evening concluded with cookies and ice cream, a new marble plaque honoring Father Bob’s years of service was unveiled. Installed earlier that afternoon by a stonemason in the church’s chancel passage, it will stand as a lasting tribute in the sacred space.
Wardens Jim Gruettner and Anne Miles Carlos served as masters of ceremony, while Kym Sutherland Cox, Steve Leland, and Rebecca Woods organized the celebration.
Reflecting on his retirement, Father Bob said, “I’ve always felt like one of the luckiest people in the world. I was blessed by where and when I went to seminary, and by the joy and occasional aggravations that have come with this life in ministry. But the greatest gift has been the honor of pastoring this parish and sharing the journey of faith, year after year.”
In retirement, Father Bob plans to continue writing homilies, pursue his avocations, and serve the diocese as a supply priest. The 136-year-old Church of the Angels, located in west Pasadena near Highland Park, is preparing for a clergy search and the calling of a new rector.