Dick and Bobbi Oestreicher

Richard George “Dick” Oestreicher (born June 20, 1934) and Roberta Belle “Bobbi” Oestreicher (nee Bradley, born September 12, 1936) were married on August 30, 1958, at Grace Bible Church in Ann Arbor, Mich. They enjoyed 61 years together and went home to be with the Lord on April 17 and 14, 2020, respectively.

Red dots on a wall map in their home marked all the places they had been, including Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine just after the wall came down. Dick and Bobbi were some of the best traveled home missionaries you could ever meet. Their work was always personal, as together they shared the love they had experienced in Jesus with the wider world.

Graduates of the University of Michigan, the Oestreichers bled maize and blue for the rest of their lives. Active members at Ward Church, they were friends to all they met and faithful servants of the Lord. Missionaries at heart, they served in a host of mission fields over the course of their life together.

A consummate preschool teacher even beyond Montessori school walls, Bobbi loved to engage young children at their level. Through SEND International and as Director of EPC World Outreach, Dick resourced international church planting with innovative leadership. Spiritual mentors for more than six decades, Dick and Bobbi were an inspiration to many.

The family home was perhaps their greatest mission field, where they lovingly raised their children, established a legacy of faith for generations after them to follow, and extended hospitality far beyond the normal bonds of family. Compassionate, humble, and genuinely loving, the Oestreichers always had an extra place at the table. Faithful and welcoming, frugal yet generous, they held themselves to the highest Christian ideals while extending love and grace freely to everyone around them. Their lives bore unmistakable evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work over the decades.

When their love on earth was spent, and their love of God made perfect, the Oestreichers died well—Dick having fought the good fight and Bobbi having embraced the peace of God which passes understanding. Billy Graham once said, “Someday you will read or hear that I am dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” The Oestreichers, spiritual giants in their own humble way, changed their address this past week. We grieve, we mourn, but we do so in the sure and certain hope of resurrection, which is offered to all who trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Dick and Bobbi are survived by children Lori (Joe), Lisa (Rod), and Mark (Jeannie), grandchildren Zack (Rachael), Kirsten (Geoff), Rachel (Dan), Shana (Anthony), Jake (Kristin), Rachel (Isaac), Riley, Wade, Vance (Alyssa), Max (Bailey), and Shelby, by 12 great-grandchildren, Dick’s sisters Ruth and Carol (Jim), Bobbi’s sisters Kay (Bruce) and Kathy (Jim), and a host of nieces, nephews, and dear friends. Bobbi was preceded in death by her sister, Bonnie (Terry).