Rev. Wendell C. Gleason

The third son of Turner and Flo Gleason, Wendell was born in the interim between the two world wars. He grew up with seven siblings in a house that was back to back with Christ Church Apostolic, pastored by his uncle, Andrew Baker. His siblings included Orion Gleason, former district superintendent of the Northwest and Oregon Districts of the UPCI, Content Ballestero, wife of evangelist/pastor Carl Ballestero, and Lolita Brown, who served with her husband, Dale Brown, as missionaries to Peru.

At the age of twenty-four, Wendell was drafted into the US Air Force where he served as a medical technician at military hospitals based all over the Northwest, Southern, and Eastern United States. Wendell married Rea Mae Fleischman on June 17, 1943, during his first furlough. Since he was never sent overseas, Rea stayed with him for the duration of the war.

After the war, Andrew Baker encouraged Wendell to attend Apostolic Bible Institute in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for one year. Wendell’s character and musical abilities so impressed the faculty and student body, he was elected honor student at the close of his freshman year. S. G. Norris, president of the college, asked Wendell to join the faculty while he was still a student, and he taught at ABI for the next thirty-five years.

Brother Gleason never pastored a church, but his dynamic teaching and Godly life influenced many pastors and missionaries who attended ABI. He taught Minor Prophets, Bible Geography, Life of Christ, and Book of Acts, and directed both the college choir and the church choir. For twenty years he toured the United States with choirs and quartets, representing the school and developing countless friendships. In 1955, he was the first to produce a record for a UPCI Bible college: “I Know a Name,” featuring student Hugh Rose. He served as executive vice president of ABI for ten years and as the secretary of the Minnesota-Manitoba District of the UPCI for twenty years.

Wendell Gleason was a loving husband to Rea and a good father to his four children, Gary, Pat, Pam, and Stan. His two sons became pastors and district superintendents, while his two daughters became pastors’ wives. His younger son Stan now serves as the assistant general superintendent of the UPCI.

Brother Gleason retired in 1981, and he and Sister Gleason moved back to Oregon City, Oregon, where they attended the United Pentecostal Church pastored by his son, Gary. That same year, he was elected district secretary of the Oregon District and served for ten years.

Brother Gleason had retired in name only. Besides his duties as district secretary, he often spoke at churches throughout the Oregon District and the country, conducted music seminars, and taught his Minor Prophets course on video for Kent Christian College. He served as executive presbyter for the Northwest Region for two years.

On March 23, 1997, the hope of eternal glory to which God had called Wendell Gleason and that about which he so often had sung, became a wonderful reality.