The Rev. Dr. Pieper was born in Carwitz, Pomerania, Germany. He was one of seven children of town mayor August Pieper and his wife Bertha Lohf. In 1870 he arrived in the States with his widowed mother and three of his siblings. Two older brothers were already here, but an older sister stayed in Germany. In 1878 he joined Concordia Seminary in St Louis, Missouri, as a professor in the department of dogmatics. He became the fourth President of the Seminary in 1887 and served as President until his death in 1931. He also served as assistant pastor at Immanuel congregation for almost fifty years.
From 1882 to 1899 Dr. Pieper served on the Board of Colored Missions for the Synodical Conference. He served as President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod from 1899 to 1911. He was a prolific author of essays, articles and books.
He married Minnie Koehn of Sheboygan, Wisconsin on January 2, 1877. They were blessed with 13 children: Paula, born 3 January 1878, Francis, born 27 July 1879, Lucie, Ada Emma, born 9 November 1888, Clara, Else, born 19 July 1892, George, Eric, born 17 March 1897, Julia, Theodore, born 17 August 1912, Irene, a medical doctor, and Arthur.

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Unveiling of Pieper Memorial

On Sunday, May 29, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the unveiling of the Pieper Memorial will take place at the Western Lutheran Cemetery. The monument is in the form of a large granite cross and it erected by the grateful students of Dr. Franz Pieper. Dean Fritz will deliver the dedicatory address, and the music for the occasion will be provided by the Students' Chorus and the Seminary Band.
The program has been arranged by a committee comprised of the following men: Rev. P. Koenig, Rev. R.H. Meyer, Mr. Wm. Drees, Mr. H.C. Waltke, and Prof. Polack. This committee was appointed by the Western District and has received contributions from those ministers of Synod who had the happy privilege of being the students of our sainted Dr. Franz Pieper.

From "Alma Mater", v.22, no.24, p.235 (1931-1932)