Born: September 26, 1929, Des Plaines, Illinois.
Died: January 24, 2021, Melrose Park, Illinois.
Buried: Concordia Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois.
Carl was the son of Erich and Elsie Schalk, and husband of Noël Donata Roeder.
He attended Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Illinois (BA 1952); the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York (BMus 1957); and Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri (MA).
He served as teacher and music director at the Zion Lutheran Church, Wausau, Wisconsin, for six years, and director of music for the International Lutheran Hour in St. Louis (1958–65). In 1965, he became an assistant professor (and in 1968, associate professor) at Concordia Teachers College.
He served on the music editorial advisory committee of Concordia Publishing House, edited Church Music, and was on the hymn music committee of the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship.