Fall 2018
LUTHER CLASS OF ‘58
Soli Deo Gloria! It is approaching the serious time of celebrating with each other! It REALLY has been almost 60 years since we graduated from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa! The Homecoming Alumni Dinner and presentation of the Distinguished Service Awards is on Friday, October 26, at 6:30 in the Dahl Centennial Union Dining Hall. Cost is $30 per person. Russ Loven of our class will be one of the recipients. Congrats from all of us, Russ! The Reunion Class Reception will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 27, 2018 in the Mott-Borlaug Rooms in the Dahl Centennial Union. It is at no cost to each of us, but please send in your registration form.
Our gathering is becoming more exciting since Alan Heggen has agreed to be emcee for our reception. We will also be entertained by the “jazz group” with Rod (Spider) Ellickson, Ron James, Jonathan Preus, Joel Brende, and Vern (Bones) Walheim. Please bring old photos, memories, stories to share with the ’58 class! We will be deciding on what to include in the reception program in the next months so, if you have ideas, please send them in.
While enjoying our 60th Class reception, we also should be thinking about how each of us could donate to Luther College. Some were mentioned in the last class letter. Check out The Luther Fund on the Luther website for more information.
One of our classmates, Gerald Hanson, sent some history of his life which I wish you could all read! He describes himself as one of those “old guys,” a vet that started in ’52, left for service in 54, came back and graduated in ’58. He shared some of his wonderful family story and his wish to give to Luther. He and his wife, Karen Hellekson ’58, have led a life of remarkable service. Gerald shared that they had sold a house and put some of the proceeds in an irrevocable charitable trust. Luther will receive a third of this total. They are doing it now in order to save their children the future task of completing it.
We, indeed, have so many stories which we could share and will try to do some of this at our reception. We all have had many wonderful and difficult times! We do share sympathy with Leila Hestenes Gangstad who recently lost her husband, Lowell ’57. We extend our thoughts and prayers to all of you who are in such a time of your life. Hopefully, we will be sharing the phases of our life stories in our gathering!
Soli Deo Gloria Luther Class of ‘58!
Marilyn Skatrud
1958 Class Agent
2108 Concord Trail
Eau Claire, WI 54703
[email protected]
715-829-6903
OBITUARIES
Marilyn (Kinder) Affeldt of Wykoff, Minn., died May 24, 2017, age 79.
Paul R. Hjelle of Decorah, died Oct. 31, 2017, age 80.
Marilyn (Bollinger) Michaelson of San Carlos, Calif., died May 22, 2017, age 80.
The full obituaries of classmates listed in this letter can be found on the Luther College website at: luther.edu/in-memoriam/
If you would like a printout of the obituaries listed above in their entirety mailed to you, please contact us at: [email protected], or 563-387-1509.