Vale Kevin Schrapel, Life Through the Lens columnist
The Murray Bridge resident has died; his funeral will be at Holy Cross at 10.30am on June 12.

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Murray Bridge is mourning the loss of missionary, thespian and Christian columnist Kevin Schrapel, who died on June 3 after a period of ill health.
A farm boy by upbringing, he spent his early working years in the outback, according to an online profile: first as a labourer, then an overseer at Colona Station on the Nullarbor Plain; then at nearby Yalata Aboriginal Mission, where he helped locals begin selling the artefacts they made to the world.
He continued to move around, spending five years with the Finke River Mission in the 1970s, then serving the Lutheran Church at Coober Pedy, then returning to Yalata in a community development role.
He and his wife Ruth then moved to Murray Bridge, where he spent the remainder of his career with SA Water.
During those years, Mr Schrapel became a fixture at Murray Bridge Players and Singers, not only as a performer and crew member, but directing – Camelot in 1990, Barnum in 1993 and My Fair Lady in 1998 – and serving as the amateur theatre company’s president.
In retirement, he also became a keen photographer, often noticing little details in everyday places that others might miss.
These became the basis for a Christian column, Life Through the Lens, which he wrote for about a decade, initially for The Murray Valley Standard, then Murray Bridge News and finally on Facebook.
“I want to say a big thank you to those who supported and encouraged me over the years of writing, especially Ruth,” he wrote in February.
“And many thanks to a loving God who sometimes said, ‘Get your backside into gear and trust me for the words,’ and other times nodded and encouragingly said, ‘Yeah, I think we got that one right.’”
Mr Schrapel is survived by Ruth, his wife; and other family members.
His funeral service will be held at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, in Murray Bridge, at 10.30am on Thursday, June 12.
