Engle, a co-founder of the Loctite Corp. in Hartford, Conn., and a member of First Church in New York City, had a deep interest in preaching. Successful in business, he endowed three chairs in homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary and another at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he served on the board of trustees for nine years.
Engle also endowed the Joe R. Engle Institute of Preaching at Princeton seminary, a weeklong continuing education event that each summer brings up to 50 fairly recent seminary graduates together to nurture their skills in preaching. Last year, the institute brought together 43 pastors from 18 states with the idea of strengthening the preaching of pastors who regularly preach in local congregations.
“Preachers must convey to listeners a sense of what the gospel is saying to our human experience today,” Engle told Princeton seminary’s Inspire magazine in 2003. “It’s hard work, but it has the potential to change and enrich lives every Sunday.”
A lover of organ music – he called the organ “the king of instruments” – Engle provided the new tracker organ for Princeton seminary’s Miller Chapel during its renovation in 2000, and also gave organs to several congregations with which he had associations, including The Presbyterian Church in Coshocton, Ohio, where Engle’s parents were long-time members and where he also provided funds for organ recitals and performances.
Born in Coshocton on Jan. 26, 1922, to the late Perry L. and Georgia R. Engle, Joe Engle died on Jan. 17. He graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in engineering; earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University; and served in the U.S. Navy. In 2007, Engle set up a $10 million scholarship fund for students from Coshocton County to attend Ohio State, with a preference being given to first-generation college students.
Engle, the descendent of Scottish Presbyterians, met his wife, Elizabeth, when, as a tourist, he visited St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, to see where John Knox had preached and to hear the organ. Elizabeth, an elder, was standing in the sanctuary arranging flowers for an upcoming wedding – and he asked her out for dinner. She turned him down, suggesting tea instead.
Engle’s survivors include his wife, Elizabeth, and a stepson, Dr. Graham Barr, both of New York City; a sister, Mary E. Ehrich, and a nephew, Dr. William Ehrich, both of Bloomington, Ind. A memorial service will be held Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. at the First Church in New York, 12 West 12th St. (at 5th Ave., and 12th St.), with Jon Walton officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to the charity of one’s choice or to the Engle Institute of Preaching at Princeton Theological Seminary.
