Minnesota Pastor Steve Junker Dies After Cruise Ship Injury and Hospitalization

Steve Junker, the longtime pastor of Chippewa Lutheran Church in Brandon, Minnesota, died at age 58 after a severe spinal cord injury and near-drowning incident that occurred during his son’s wedding celebration on an Italian cruise ship on Aug. 16. Following initial care in Naples, he was moved to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where doctors treated him until his death, which his daughter Elizabeth announced via a GoFundMe update.

The family reported that he was surrounded by his wife, children, parents and friends when he passed, and they thanked the Mayo Clinic for its care. An obituary highlighted his prior career as a pharmacist and his ten-year tenure as pastor, noting his animated sermons and devotion to his family. A funeral service is scheduled for Sept. 11 at Chippewa Lutheran Church, with burial at Minnewaska Lutheran Cemetery in Starbuck.