Umhau attended Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Maryland; Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbus, Ohio; and Hartford Seminary Found at Hartford, Connecticut. He was a third generation Lutheran minister, spent thirty-seven years as an LCA pastor, taught nine years at a seminary in Chicago, and served an LCA congregation in Toledo, Ohio. In the late 1970s he was Director of the Lutheran Lifelong Learning Institute in Toledo, Ohio bringing education to and for the aged. He was a pioneer in Gerontology/Aging. The Wolfs did a 'roving' or 'portable' retreat ministry, doing Bible studies and lectures for congregations throughout North America. He was also Director of Lutheran Institute for Religious Studies at Texas Lutheran College in Seguin, Texas.

Umhau passed away February, 2004.