Matthew G. Geerdes

Rev. Matthew G. Geerdes died peacefully at home on Friday, March 6, 2026, at the age of 49. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 6, 1977, he was raised in Germantown and Shelby County by his parents, Karen and George Geerdes.

A gifted and multifaceted young man, Matt graduated with honors from Houston High School, where he was a National Merit Finalist. He wrestled for the school team at the Tennessee State Championships, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, and developed a lifelong passion for horses, music, and the outdoors. Deeply involved at St. Luke Lutheran Church, he formed enduring friendships through youth events and forums that helped shape his faith. An accomplished pianist who taught himself guitar and several other instruments, he created music with close friends, a bond that continued across the years and distances.

Matt graduated with honors from Texas Lutheran University, where he majored in Theology, mastered Hebrew and Greek, and sang with the university choir. There he met Priscilla, whom he married in 1998. Together they attended Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, earning Master of Divinity degrees. Ordained as pastors, they served jointly for over twenty years at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Roberts, Illinois, and Pontoppidan Lutheran Church in Elliott. Matt later served as campus pastor for Agape Campus Ministry at Illinois State University for twelve years and remained a devoted musician and loyal fan of Memphis sports throughout his life. In 2024, after Priscilla was called to serve as Assistant to the Bishop of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod, Matt moved to Indianapolis, where he continued to serve as a supply and interim pastor while completing new musical projects and caring for his parents in Tennessee.

He is survived by his wife, Priscilla Beth Hunter Geerdes; their children, Lily Margaret Geerdes and Isaiah Matthew Geerdes; his mother, Karen Teresa Reed Geerdes, and father, George Henry Geerdes; his sister, Julie Teresa Geerdes Lindow, and her husband, Matthew Edward Lindow, and their children; as well as extended family. He was preceded in death by his grandparents.