Paul Walter Ludwig, Sr. was born on December 28, 1998 in Appleton City, Missouri. Paul was the seventh of ten children born to Friedrich Reinhold Ludwig (1861-1931) and Anna Hedwig Hübner Ludwig (1860-1945).

Thekla Clara Emilie Friedrich was born on November 4, 1904 in St. Charles, Missouri. Thekla was the ninth of ten children born to Julius John August Friedrich (1862-1958) and Bertha Katharina Schick Ludwig (1864-1937).

Paul and Thekla met in St. Charles while Paul was a student at Concordia Seminary and Thekla was in high school. They were engaged in Creighton, Missouri in the summer of 1924 and married on May 6, 1925 in the chapel at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where Rev. Julius Friedrich was campus pastor.

After their marriage, Paul and Thekla lived in a number of locations in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Missouri, and Indiana. Between 1924 and 1964, Paul served as the sole pastor for congregations in or near Hoxie KS, Bloomington NE, Oxford NE, Bremen KS, Houston TX, Navasota TX, and Gordonville MO. After retirement in 1964, Paul served as assistant pastor in Decatur IN until 1974.

Paul and Thekla had twelve children:

• Paul Walter Ludwig, Jr. — born Feb. 11, 1926 in Hoxie KS
• Eunice Lois Ludwig Fink — born Mar. 15, 1928 in Bloomington NE
• Robert Frederic Ludwig — born Nov. 25, 1929 in Bloomington NE
• Richard Charles Ludwig — born June 14, 1931 in Bloomington NE
• Philip James Ludwig — born Dec. 23, 1932 in Hildreth NE
• John Edward Ludwig — born Sept. 21, 1934 in Oxford NE
• Theodore Mark Ludwig — born Sept. 28, 1936 in Oxford NE
• David Jerome Ludwig — born Sept. 13, 1938 in Oxford NE
• Thekla Ruth Ludwig Sebaugh — born July 14, 1942 in Oxford NE
• Elizabeth Catherine Ludwig Wiening — born Sept. 5, 1944 in Oxford NE
• Charlotte Ann Ludwig Le Pere — born Nov. 12, 1946 in Odell NE
• Thomas Ethan Ludwig — born April 5, 1950 in Houston TX