December 2005
Dear ’58ers,
It
seems to take longer to write a letter, as I get older. Thus, you are getting six months worth of
news at one time!
First,
to get this one out of the way, I am officially retiring at the end of this
school year. Actually, I guess I am
semi-retired now since I am on a 2/3 contract, whatever that means! I have been lucky to have had such a great
opportunity for so many years. I
stumbled into this wonderful career of working with young people that has kept
me challenged for such a long time. I
used to say I would retire when I had three consecutive days of not wanting to
go to work and, since it did not happen, I decided to get out before I reached
70. Yes, for the non-veterans in our
class, this is the "speed limit" birthday.
Before
I begin the news section, let me thank the classmates who responded to our
appeals last spring for the Gustavus Fund.
An earlier letter last spring thanked the first group, but not the
second. Thanks to you all for your great
support!
BEVERLY
DUNCAN ANDERSON, LEE ANDERSON, WESTEN ANDERSON, VAHAN
ASSADOURIAN, BOB BAUGH, ELLEN MAUS BOLER, PAUL BORG, DICK
BRATT, KAREN MATTSON BRUNING, DOROTHY PALM CHILKOTT, CHARLES
CLEMENTS, BARRY COULTER, MARTHA BANKE CURTIS, HEATHER
PETERSON DAVIS-PEABODY, LOREN ECKBERG, DON ELVESTROM, MARGO
PETTERSEN FOHS, CAROL LUND GARONE, JANET OLSON GREEN, JERRY
HESSER, ANDREA GRANT JANOUSEK, JIM JOHANSEN, LLOYD AND
WANDA (HEUER) JOHNSON, MARGE LUND KINNEY, LINDA ECKBLAD
KNOCHENMUS, KEN KOZEL, JOYCE STRAND MARVEL, CLAUDETTE
ANDERSON MCCOLLAR, JIM MCPHERSON, RON MICHELSON, AARON
MOEN, MARGARET STEENERSON MOONEY, MIRIAM ANDERSON OLSEN, JEANINE
LUNDAHL OLSON, RICHARD OLSON, ROBERT ORTLOFF, ROGER
ROETTGER, DONNA (ELVESTROM) AND ADE SPONBERG, JANICE
(CARLSON) AND LYNN STRAND, JUDITH HANSON TURNLUND, CHARLENE
BUKKILA WESTRUM AND MARY ELLEN YOUNG.
Our
class had an excellent record last year.
Our total for the unrestricted Alumni Fund was $21,215, about $1,000
less than the year before…but a respectable fourth in our decade. With the
leadership of some power givers, our grand total was $318,610 more than any
other class! There were 10 classes that
contributed more than $100,000.
We
had 121 donors out of 191 classmates for a donor percentage of 63.4%, fourth in
our decade. Thirteen more donors would bring
us to 70% participation―a very worthy goal. Let's do it!
We
all know there are many good causes at Gustavus that deserve our support. Gifts to the unrestricted Gustavus Fund are
used to meet the annual operating costs of the College, ranging from financial
aid to academic equipment to electricity.
Your gifts can also be designated to scholarships, Christ Chapel or to a
favorite academic program. All in your
choosing!
And,
now for some news, starting with the earliest.
AARON MOEN is enjoying retirement, traveling, doing some
professional writing, and a "regular dose of playing the fiddle with a
couple of bluegrass bands". Way to
go! CHARLES CLEMENTS is proud to
announce his marriage to Shirley Frederick on November 23, 2004. Married before he was 69! Congratulations! RUSS and JOAN (KRANTZ ’56) BRAUN celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary on February 12.
Congratulations! WANDA
(HEUER) and LLOYD JOHNSON met KEITH NORLIN when he was
guiding an Elderhostel hike in the State Parks of Southern Utah. Lloyd and Keith remembered they were in the
same geology class, taught by Chester Johnson, in the fall of 1954. By the way, I saw Chester today and he is
going strong at 91. In fact, he recited
to me some bawdy limericks that he learned from Kyle Montague ’34 years ago.
KENT
PETERSON, MERYL NELSON JESSEN, KAREN MATTSON BRUNING, CAROLYN
CLOGSTON ENGQUIST, SHIRLEY LUNDGREN KANNE and ED GUTZMANN all
visited the Gustavus booth at the State Fair, as did BOB "UP" OLSON
of the class of 1959. Sorry I missed
most of you, since I only worked one day at the fair this year. Over 400 alumni signed the guestbook at the
booth. Another group was at the Royal
Affair; among those I saw were JOHN JOHNSON, JOHN DAHL, JAN
(NEIDT) and ANDERS BJORLING and BOB PETERSON. I am sure I missed several classmates. WESTEN ANDERSON was on campus last
weekend for Christmas in Christ Chapel.
And, you may have noticed in the Quarterly the visit to the
campus by ELLWOOD JOHNSON, HERB LUNDEEN, JOHN DAHL and our
friend, John Moore, a Gustie by virtue of being a parent of several alumni
children.
Back
to more vintage news. MARTHA BANKE
CURTIS reports 37, going on 38, years of monthly bridge gatherings with JAN
(THOMAS) and DOUG PRITCHARD, NORI (HEINE) and JIM BECKER
and RICHARD and PAT (MCLANE ’59) OLSON. Wow! Martha and Les
welcomed their fifth grandchild in October 2004. VAHAN ASSADOURIAN and Joyce continue to travel in
retirement. ROBERT CHRISTENSON
has spent 40 years as a health care consultant and has been moderator of the
Minnesota Health Care Roundtable since 1995, moderating 22 roundtables. He is also president of the Fridley
Historical Society. PATRICIA MILLER
PETERSON has reached the point where she spends more time in Arizona than
Minnesota. At -5° here this morning in
sunny St Peter, I can't figure out why.
HERBERT
ANDERSON is now living in Berkeley, CA where Phyllis is president of
Pacific Lutheran Seminary. Jack Niemi
’68, former vice president of Church Relations at Gustavus recently joined the
staff at Pacific Lutheran Seminary. BEVERLY
(DUNCAN) and J ROGER ’57 ANDERSON have made Arizona their home base
too and are keeping very busy with Beverly tutoring, volunteering at the
Lutheran Thrift Store and completing seven years on the Foundation Board of Mosaic. Roger volunteers with the homeless program
and enjoys hobbies of photography, model ship building and serving on the board
of the Augustana Heritage Association.
They have five grandchildren in California. I recently renewed my acquaintance with their son, Craig ’82 and
his wife, Lauri (Eckblad ’82). DONNA
(ELVESTROM) and ADE SPONBERG are also back in Arizona for the
winter. There must be hundreds of
Gusties there. Hey, it's up to +2° here
at 10:00 this morning!
KAREN
MATTSON BRUNING has retired from nursing and she and Art enjoy their
fourteen (14) grandchildren. ROBERT
ORTLOFF sent a nice letter earlier this year outlining his activities since
he graduated. After buying and selling
two banks in Wisconsin, he continues in the banking business, by serving as a
bank consultant for Banner Banks while operating Stoddard Insurance Company and
being the chief financial officer of a recreational land real estate company,
Secluded Land Company. Congratulations,
Bob, on a very successful career! ROLLIE
and MARY HIRMAN divide their time between St James City, FL and
Outing, MN, selling their home near Rochester.
MARY ELLEN YOUNG does not only play golf in Florida, but also has
been vice president for education for the Symphony Guild, lectures on Eastern
Thought and has collaborated with local pianists on programs on women composers
of the 19th century. Now, that is busy.
MIRIAM
ANDERSON OLSEN has become a Texan, living in Rockport (near Corpus Christi)
and summering in Browerville, MN.
Husband, Don, died in 2003 and Mim decided that Texas needed her
"enlightened voice and vote" more than Minnesota. Friends will be happy to know that she is
still out there giving her views to who ever will listen! JANICE and LYNN (CARLSON) STRAND are
enjoying life in Bozeman, MT. JIM
MCPHERSON has retired from teaching at Princeton, but continues to be busy
writing, lecturing and fund-raising for various Civil War preservation
activities. Whenever I see Jim on the
History Channel, I wonder: (a) was he
really only 14 years old when he was a student at Gustavus? or (b) what does he
do to look so young? I know he has a
healthy and vigorous life; that must be it.
RICHARD
"RED" OLSON also sent me a nice letter last spring. Of particular interest to me was his description
of the annual summer meeting of former Gustie baseball players, DICK BRATT,
OZZIE ANDERSON ’56 and DALE WESTPHAL ’56 and their wives. They meet at interesting places around the
country, not near ballparks, but near golf courses! JOYCE STRAND MARVEL continues to teach two courses each
semester, anatomy and physiology and microbiology, but is considering moving
upon retirement―will it be Minnesota or Texas, or some of each?
ROGER
ROETTGER has been retired for several years, playing golf and loving the
freedom. He and Judy alternate their
time between Florida and Michigan.
Roger had a big family party for #70, as we all hope to do. Last I heard they were planning a trip to
England in September. JIM EDMAN
also enjoys retirement, which includes hiking, bird watching and cooking. Hey Jim, there is a birding club at
Gustavus, which takes weekend trips around the area. MARLENE GASTLER PETERSEN has twelve (12)
grandchildren. LENIDA JEPSON SANDAHL
volunteers at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul and made sure that a Gustavus
nursing uniform was on display there.
(For many years the Gustavus nursing program was based at Bethesda
Hospital.)
Cheers
to BILL and MARLYS BINGER who have a grandson at Gustavus,
Benjamin Musgjerd ’09, the first of their seven grandchildren to become third
generation. I hope they all come! LOIS WALFRID JOHNSON was cited in Minneapolis-St
Paul Magazine for her most recent endeavor, the “Viking Quest” series, set
in tenth century Ireland and Norway.
Lois visited both to research her settings. She has written more than thirty books. Well done! Please give
your thoughts and prayers to DAVID WAGNER, who is being treated for
cancer. Greetings to all classmates
from BOB PETERSON, who heads with Ranae to Destin, Florida at the end of
the month.
I
hope many of you will join others in the class by sending a gift to the
Gustavus Fund before the end of the month.
This
June will be the 48th year since our graduation. Gifts from 75% of you will be better than we have ever done.
Merry
Christmas!
Owen
Sammelson