Pastors deal with grief of baby’s death
Rev. Chris Meester and Rev. Laurel Meester are shown with their two young children, Eliora and Matthias, who died last week at 11 weeks old.
A GoFundMe has been set up for a young Owatonna family following the death of their infant son.
Matthias James Meester died unexpectedly on April 9. He was 11 weeks old; he is the son of the Revs. Chris and Laurel Meester.
Chris is the associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Owatonna, a position he has held since February 2023. Laurel is the associate pastor of First Lutheran Church in Blooming Prairie; she joined the staff there in September.
The GoFundMe hopes to “help alleviate financial burdens and allow the family to focus on healing.”
Funds raised will support the Meesters, including their young daughter Eliora, as they “navigate the unimaginable grief of this loss.”
As of Monday evening, it had raised about $14,000. It can be found at https://gofund.me/d85ad473.
Matthias was born Jan. 19 but spent his first three weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Rochester.
On Feb. 6, he came home to his family in Owatonna, where he was able to meet many relatives and friends.
The funeral for Matthias was held Wednesday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Owatonna.
His family suggests memorials in honor of Matthias be made to the American SIDS Institute for research into the causes of sudden, unexplained death in infants.
A complete obituary may be found on page 7A of this edition of the Steele County Times.