Robert David Kalis was born
March 22, 1931 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, pastor
of Emmanuel Pentecostal Church in Elizabeth from
1959 -1994. He was ordained to ministry on March
14, 1961 through the Ridgewood Pentecostal Fellowship,
Rev. Hans R. Waldvogel, ordaining minister. Robert
did his ministerial training in the Ridgewood Faith
Home traveling to Europe assisting in several Evangelistic
Campaigns.
He was an avid reader and continued
his education continually under the tutorship of
Rev. Gordon P. Gardiner, renown historian and editor-in-chief
of "Bread of Life" publication. As a contributing
editor, Robert did a series of articles relating
to hymnology.
As a life-long avid
Bible student, Robert wrote 5 years worth of Sunday
School lessons for use in his own Church Sunday
School. The last six years of his life he, along
with his wife, served as Directors of Pilgrim Camp,
Brant Lake, New York. There he literally ministered
to 100's of "pilgrims" passing through
for a time of refreshment and encouragement. He
considered those years, the crowning touch of his
ministry.
As a child, Robert had a miraculous
healing from a ruptured appendix. He was 8 years
old when his appendix burst, his parents being too
poor to call for a physician, called on a visiting
home nurse who came and attended to Robert as best
she could. Finally, she told Anna & Rudy
(his parents) that unless a miracle happened that
Robert would not live through the night. Anna &
Rudy prayed and called all their praying friends.
In the middle of that night, by Robert's own testimony,
he saw the Lord walk into his room, come over to
his bed, lay his hand on his side and immediately
Robert was released from his suffering. He promptly
fell tight asleep and awoke the next morning requesting
bacon and eggs be served him. This healing had a
tremendous effect on Robert's life. He always felt
that God had spared his life for a definite purpose,
that being to serve God in whatever way he could.
Robert D. Kalis was also a warm, generous,
fun-loving man! He was my Dad. He was the best Dad
a girl could have! He often woke us up in the morning
with some humorous line to get our eyes open. I
remember him as being fun-loving, coming down the
steps in our home laughing so hard he could not
speak, laughing while tears ran down his cheeks
trying to explain to us what he had just seen on
Popeye!
As preachers kids we were involved
in lots of ministry/church stuff he knew this needed
to be balanced with secular and fun stuff. I watched
him earnestly struggle to keep some balance in our
lives! He took us many interesting places, 2 of
my fondest memories are times when it was just he
and me. First was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while
visiting family, he took me to an aviary and we
shared an unforgettable afternoon. Second was a
trip he and I took to a place called 'Ausable Chasm'
upsate New York.
My Dad was a lover of
nature. He often pointed out the marvels of creation
to us. One of those occasions which neither I nor
my brothers will ever forget is a time we went ice-skating
together. The car broke down and we had to walk
about 2 miles home. We were all kinda little at
the time so he worried about us making it the whole
way and it was very cold outside. The entire walk
home he taught us how to identify a tree by its
shape and bark. With our attention totally riveted
on identifying the trees, we were oblivious to the
fact of the long walk. This was characteristic of
him. His huge blue eyes never missed a trick (sometimes
we wished they would! :-)
Dad was a beacon
of light in my life and his light still goes on
shining in my heart and through me into the world
around me! I will always feel honored and grateful
to have had such a wonderful man as my Father!
