Christ Seminary in Exile - Seminex

The Rev. Dr. Robert Walter Bertram was born on March 27, 1921, Easter Sunday, to Martin H. and Emma M. Dau Bertram. He was the second of three children born to the Bertrams and the only son. Dr. Bertram was educated within the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) system of parochial schools, attended college at Concordia Jr. College and graduated in 1941. He attended Washington University, St. Louis, part-time between 1941 and 1943. Upon completion of his studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, he received a bachelors of divinity in 1946. He married Ethelda Alma Koch June 12, 1946, at Zion Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana. They would eventually have six children: Susan, Kathleen, Timothy, Sarah, John, and Michael.

While in seminary, Dr. Bertram worked as a case worker for the Family Service Society of Greater St. Louis. After receiving his divinity degree in 1946, he did not immediately serve as a called pastor. He enrolled at the University of Chicago in a masters program in social service administration and received his degree in psychiatric social work in 1948. He would receive a Ph.D. in theology and philosophy of religion from that same institution's Divinity School in 1964.

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