'People are reeling from Hong Kong to Green Bay to Minnesota' after 6 die in Necedah fire

GREEN BAY — A fire in Juneau County claimed the lives of six family members who were connected with the Green Bay and De Pere area.

The Juneau County Sheriff's Office received a call on Sunday at 2:35 a.m. regarding a house fire on Morros Mile Road in Necedah. According to a press release from the Sheriff's Office, firefighters battled the fire for three hours, and it appears accidental in origin.

The victims were Pastor Steve Witte, his daughters Lydia Witte and Charis Kuehl, and his granddaughters Lena and Merci Henselin and Stella Kuehl.

According to Larry Schlomer, administrator of the World Missions at the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Pastor Steve Kuehl and his family, which includes wife Charis and daughter Stella, as well as daughters Norah and Vera, were getting set to move to Minnesota to teach at a high school.

Witte was previously a pastor for Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Green Bay. According to Mike Pfeifer, a minister at the church, Witte was a pastor there from 2001 to 2009. Pfeifer described Witte as someone who was known to care about the people. He also served in southeast Asia for 15 years.

Witte and his wife Mary were on furlough and were holding a family get-together in Necedah, according to statement from Beautiful Savior.

"Everybody that I've talked to, and it's been quite a few, all have similar stories to share about Steven and how he brought a smile to every conversation," Schlomer said. "He was always kidding around a little bit, made work meetings that much more pleasant. Everything that he did just had that flavor of hope and joy and trust."

Services will be held in Green Bay for the families, which will be figured out once authorities wrap up investigations, according to Schlomer. He also said that WELS will help pay for all the funeral expenses for the family members.

There will also be a memorial service at Asia Lutheran Seminary in Hong Kong, where Witte taught while overseas.

"People are reeling from Hong Kong to Green Bay to Minnesota. Just kind of shows the impact they had on all of us," Schlomer said. "It's moments like this, when you see a church that rallies around their former pastor and all the things that he did put for them. I think the impact is hard to describe."

A GoFundMe has also been set up to support pastor the Kuehl family, as well as a GiveSendGo fundraiser for the Henselin family.

Rashad Alexander can be contacted at ralexander@gannett.com.