Fall 2009
Dear Class of ’41 Classmates:
Wow, it was a wet and sometimes windy homecoming this year. Too early for much color on the hills, but always good to get back, regardless. The football field was beautiful on Saturday forenoon. It looked like a mud hole after the game, which we won. We played Simpson.
More changes seem to take place every year. Can you visualize a broad stretch of lawn from Larsen to the road in front of the CFL? What a clean, uncluttered expanse. The college has completed a signage program both on the buildings and to give direction. Can you believe an “upper and lower campus”? The sign at the main entrance to campus is a very attractive limestone design. Parking has been moved to the outer edge of the campus, which gives it a plaza feel. Valders Hall of Science has been refurbished with new windows, carpet, furniture, air conditioning, and sprinklers; the concourse area is now light, open and airy.
Now the good news and the bad. We placed first in percentage of participation in the all funds category and the Annual Fund at 55 percent. This also means we lost three cherished members of our class. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to their families. This brings us down to 22. To the faithful 12, I extend my grateful thanks and that of the College. Keep up the good work. In this financial climate your support is ever more important; please send a gift if you can.
This is one more year in which I have the honor to write to you and let you know that Luther still stands and is a special place. I will close now and tell you that, though you might not have been able to attend this year, I was there in spirit with each one of you, and it was wonderful. I think of you often, and I pray that this finds you well and you will take a moment to write back to me.
Going to NZ again probably won’t happen.
God loves you and so do I. Be kind to one another.
Earl Vanderwalker
1941 Class Agent
Obituaries
JAMES GLASGOW of Tucson, Ariz., died March 17, 2008, at age 88 after a valiant struggle with cancer. At Luther he was principal clarinetist in the band and orchestra and president of his class each year. Jim served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1941-45 and was with the 313th Wing Band on Tinian Island in the Pacific in 1945. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Arizona and directed high school bands in Marana, Florence, and Casa Grande (Ariz.) schools, returning to Tucson in 1953. Until his retirement in 1981, Jim was a band director in T.U.S.D. He was principal clarinetist for many years with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Frederic Balazs. A highlight in Jim’s life was playing with Benny Goodman in 1960, when he was a guest artist in Tucson with the orchestra. Benny was a guest in Jim's home for a dinner party, and they became lifelong friends. Jim played under guest conductors Leopold Stokowski, Ferde Grofe, and Paul Whiteman. For forty years he was principal clarinetist in the Tucson Pops Orchestra. As a professional musician he played with the Glenn Miller and Bob Crosby orchestras, as well as the Louis Leon Orchestra, Webb Brothers Orchestra, Ev Martin Orchestra, and various local dance bands. Jim played for many musical shows, the Barnum and Bailey Circus, the Ice Capades, and numerous famous name artists appearing at the Tucson Community Center. Jim played in chamber music ensembles, soloed for churches and, for over fifty years, enjoyed teaching private music lessons to clarinet, saxophone, and flute students. Jim was a member of Tucson Masonic Lodge No. 4 and a member of Sabbar Shrine. He played principal clarinet in the Sabbar Shrine Band for many years. Jim is survived by his wife Jeanne, five children, and seven grandchildren.
OLGA STRANDVOLD OPFELL of Torrance, Calif., died Nov. 21, 2008, at age 89. She was author of the International News Review article in the Askov American for nearly 50 years, taking over this column from her father when he died in 1959. The author of several books on accomplished women, Olga lived in Decorah when her father, Denmark-born Georg Sophus Strandvold, was coeditor of the Decorah Posten, a prominent Norwegian language newspaper. Olga studied a year in Denmark and returned to graduate from Luther. Valedictorian of her class, she went on to earn a master’s degree at the prestigious University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Olga taught briefly at Grandview College in Des Moines, Iowa, and in 1945 moved to Pasadena, Calif. She met many Hollywood celebrities and artists as a society reporter for the Pasadena Star-News. Later, while an editorial assistant at California Institute of Technology, Olga was active in the Internations Association, where she became friends with many foreign students and others who went on to earn Nobel Prizes. During the 1960s, Olga was twice elected Woman of the Year by the City of Orange (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce and chosen once for the title by the Aeronautic Division of Ford Motor Company at Newport Beach, Calif. During this period she was active in the Los Angeles World Affairs Council's International Visitors Program. Several of these visitors became lifelong friends. Olga enjoyed traveling to Europe to visit Danish cousins and friends there. She was an expert in the fine arts and music as well as in writing, and regarded the King James Bible as the highest form of English literature. Olga is survived by her husband, John, and four children.
BETH (IVERSON) REYNOLDS of Redwood Valley, Calif., died April 16, 2009, at age 89. She had been suffering from trigeminal neuralgia and bronchiectasis. At Luther Beth wrote for College Chips and was a reporter for the college news service. She briefly taught high school in Shakopee and Proctor, Minn., and later worked as a job interviewer for the Calco Chemical Division of the American Cyanamid Company in New Jersey; a receptionist for Gumbiner, Gumbiner, and Gumbiner Advertising Agency in New York; assistant office manager for Equitable Life Assurance Company in New York; and private secretary to Bud Fisher, the cartoonist for “Mutt & Jeff,” one of America’s first syndicated cartoons. Beth settled in Ventura, Calif., and worked in social services as a specialist with the elderly, blind, and disabled, and she became active in her community as a Girl Scout leader and in the PTA. In the Presbyterian Church, Beth was a member of the board of deacons, taught Sunday school, and led Bible study. She was also active with the American Association of University Women and PEO, and she helped set up “Beth’s Closet,” a program to provide quality clothing for women being discharged from prison and rehab centers. Widely known for her selection of personal clothing, Beth believed these women needed good clothing not only for job interviews, but for their own self esteem. In her love of people, she felt that there was always a need for celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or special holiday. Beth is survived by her husband ROBERT REYNOLDS ’42, two children, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
