Greetings to Members of the Class of 1970!
Summer 2016
It is summer, and time, once again, to give you “updates” about a few of our classmates and send
news about Concordia.
All is well in Fargo-Moorhead. We waited a long time for rain, but now that we have had a
substantial amount, everything (ie: yards, crops, campus, etc.) looks very green and healthy. It is a
beautiful time of year! Pat Torgeson ‘71 and I are doing fine. Both of our moms live in Fargo so
we keep busy checking on them and helping them keep their day to day lives managed. We feel
privileged to be able to do so. In between “care-giving,” we spend time with family and friends,
serve on a few committees, try to keep up on current events, and also get in some exercise. We love
the days when the weather is nice enough to be outdoors!
Before going any further, I want to thank everyone who came back to Concordia last fall for our
45th Homecoming Reunion. The gathering served as a way for many of us to re-connect, share
stories from the past, see how the campus has changed, laugh a great deal, and think about making
plans to attend our 50th Homecoming Reunion in 2020. It was great fun to see so many of you last
October!!
I heard from several classmates when I asked for updates, recently. Thanks to everyone who
responded. It was great to hear from you and the updates are a wonderful way for all of us to
connect to one another. The Class Notes that I received are as follows:
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Avis Anderson lives in Glendive, Montana and will be attending her 50th high school
reunion this fall. She is retired and reflects on retirement as a “gift.” Avis does a lot of
supply preaching (guest preaching) in the Glendive area, volunteers at the public library, and
just enjoys “being in the present.” In her own words, “God is good all the time.”
Roger Bonderud lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the summer and in Orlando, Florida in
the winter with his wife, Joan. He will also be attending his 50th high school reunion this
summer in Shelby, Montana. Last September, Roger and Joan traveled to Italy where they
visited Rome, Florence, and the Tuscany Region. They found it quite rewarding to see some
of the great masterpieces by artists such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci that Roger had
studied in an Art History class at Concordia, taught by Mrs. Glasrud.
Steve Dove lives in Pepin, Wisconsin with his wife Marianne (Nystuen) ’81. Steve retired
as assistant principal/athletic director at Edina High School eight years ago. Since that time,
he and Marianne have purchased a waterfront restaurant in Pepin called “The Pickle
Factory.” The restaurant is on the shores of Lake Pepin, which is part of the Mississippi
River and is about one hour and fifteen minutes from the Twin Cities. Steve and Marianne
also spend two months in Florida during the winter months. They enjoy connecting with
many of their Cobber friends at their restaurant during the summer and fall and in Florida
during the winter.
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Leslie (Swanson) Erickson lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband Todd. She is
retired from teaching in St. Paul Public Schools, but is now the new Library Media
Specialist at Eagle Ridge Academy K-12 Charter School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The
school has had increased enrollment so has recently purchased a new building that needs a
library. Leslie will work three days a week at the Academy and will also continue working
one day a week at Mackin Educational Resources in Burnsville, Minnesota, to help
librarians build their libraries. Leslie’s husband is self-employed. According to Leslie:
“Life is good!”
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Evelyn (Guttromson) Gedde lives in Richfield, Minnesota with her husband Rev. Larry
Gedde. They have two daughters and one son.
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Richard Gilreath lives in Winnebago, Minnesota. On February 18, 2016 he began working
two days a week in the Northern Tool & Equipment Manufacturing Plant in Faribault,
Minnesota. He has been having fun working with a former engineering colleague to
implement Lean Manufacturing and a Quality Management System. In August, 2015 he
traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the third time since 2009 and spent six weeks
visiting his daughters and traveling into Malaysia. He plans to go back to the area in 2017.
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Everett Hall lives in Great Falls, Montana with his wife Carol. After teaching elementary
grade children in the Great Falls School District for 32 years, Ev retired this past spring. His
retirement was featured in the Great Falls Tribune (Search for: Everett Hall at
www.greatfallstribune.com). In June, he traveled to Colorado where he visited his daughter
and Warren (Yogi) True. In July, Ev and Carol were in the Fargo-Moorhead area to visit
and help their son and daughter-in-law with some house remodeling. While in the area, he
traveled to a Concordia language village camp where he spent some time visiting Jon
Pederson ‘72. In August Ev and Carol plan to travel to Oregon to visit their other daughter,
in the fall they are going to Hawaii, and in February they are going skiing in Austria.
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Evelyn (Homdrom) Hanson-Florin lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Evelyn wrote that her
husband, Hans Florin, died of pancreatic cancer on May 30, 2016.
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Terry Hokenson lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is on the board of Minnesota
Interfaith Power & Light, an interfaith climate crisis organization. He is also Co-Chair of
the organization’s Solar Team. During the week of July 4, 2016 he led a workshop on the
emotions of the climate crisis entitled, “God Sent an Angel to Soothe the Lions.” He led the
workshop at a national gathering of Quakers at the College of St. Benedict located in St.
Joseph, Minnesota. An outline of the workshop can be found at https://tinyurl.com/juzor7m.
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Caren (Holm) Martin lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. On May 7, 2016 Caren married Jim
Burleigh at Lutheran Church of the Servant in Santa Fe, which is where they met. They then
traveled to Norway and enjoyed the beauty of the country, Constitution Day, and a fjord
cruise.
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Karen (Klefstad) Monson lives in Plymouth, Minnesota. In 2013 she retired from the
Perpich Center for Arts Education where she chaired the visual arts department, taught
studio arts and grant writing, and coordinated mentors for students. Karen has two
daughters. One daughter, Donna Marie Monson is a photographer and writer and the other
daughter, Kjersti Ann Monson, is director of long-range planning for the City of
Minneapolis. Karen also has two grandchildren, Olan and Bene, and she recently became
the owner of a standard poodle puppy named Pip.
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Gary Noren lives in Chisago City, Minnesota with his wife Marty Harding. This summer
they were among five artists selected to live and work at the St. Croix Watershed Research
Station’s historic Pine Needles cabin, located on the banks of the St. Croix River. The
program began in 2001and offers time and space for artists to interact with scientists at the
station who conduct field research for the Science Museum of Minnesota. Gary and Marty
are also collaborating on a project of photography and choral music that will celebrate the
St. Croix. In photos, Gary will document the river and the scientists studying it. Marty will
curate choral music relating to rivers and will direct a community concert at the Marine on
St. Croix Village Hall on October 15th. Dan Chouinard will host the event and Gary’s
photos will be on display at that time.
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Greg Schwandt lives in Great Falls, Montana. In June, Greg was selected as a Super
Lawyer. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than seventy
practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional
achievement. He has been an attorney with Church, Harris, Johnson & Williams since
1978. His specialty areas are business, estate planning, trusts, and probate.
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Mary Sheldahl lives in Lynwood, Washington. She taught young children for 45 years and
retired on July 1, 2016. She now has more time to spend with her two grandchildren, ages
five and two.
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Neil Skogerboe lives in Bemidji, Minnesota with his wife Celeste. After serving as a
physician for 40 years, he retired from Family Practice on July 1, 2015. He and Celeste
have three children and seven grandchildren.
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Larry Wickstrom and his wife live on a lake north of Aitkin, Minnesota in the summer and
in Prescott, Arizona in the winter. This past year, they purchased a travel trailer and they
travel to different parts of the country in it. In the summer they are mostly in the Twin
Cities as their children and grand-sons live there, as well as other family members and
friends. They keep busy with hobbies and taking care of their 2.5 acres on the lake. They
have owned the property for 29 years and Larry said that they are in their 29th year of their
five year project of completing everything…..he also said that with life so busy in retirement
he is not sure how he ever had time to work! He has had three joint replacements in the
past six years and he said that although he is not as flexible as he once was, he is happy to be
able to walk around and be on the right side of the grass…..According to Larry, “Life is
good!”
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Sandra (Wenner) Yeaman and her husband, Alex Yeaman, live in San Diego, California.
On July 31, 2015 Sandra retired after working thirty years at the U.S. Department of State.
They are happy to live in San Diego where their son, Simon (‘97), also lives with his wife,
Sarah, and their two children, James and Eva.
Concordia College Updates include the following:
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Renovation of the Jones and Ivers science buildings continues. The project is scheduled to
be completed by July, 2017. Features will include updated mechanical systems, flexible
classrooms, t-search labs (teaching/research labs), larger faculty offices and social and
informal learning spaces.
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The Concordia Choir will travel to parts of North Dakota and Minnesota from October 29 to
November 6, 2016 and to the Southwest from February 25 to March 12, 2017. All choirs
and the Concordia Orchestra will perform the world premier of “The Passion of Jesus
Christ” at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, and at the Memorial Auditorium, Moorhead, on
April 8 and 9, and will also tour Germany from May 8 to 22, 2017. Concordia has also
commissioned Dr. Rene′ Clausen to compose a major choral orchestral work in observation
of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.
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Griffin Neal ‘15, a former Cobber quarterback, has recently signed a contract with the New
Orleans Saints, and Brandon Zystra ’16, former Cobber receiver, was invited to attend the
Minnesota Vikings mini-camp this past spring. Jordan Bolger ‘16 averaged 18.8 points
and 8.5 rebounds per basketball game and was named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (MIAC) most valuable player last spring. National College Athletic Association
(NCAA) All-American Cherae Reeves '16 won the Division III Indoor and Outdoor shot
put championship.
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Concordia’s data analytics team placed first among twenty-four teams from seventeen
schools around the Midwest in the Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition
(MUDAC). Students on the team were Tom Dukatz‘ 16, Zach Lipp ’16, Philip Manley
’17, and Rachel Swedin ’16. The faculty advisor was Dr. John Reber, Associate Professor
of Mathematics. Teams had twenty-four hours to analyze data from Mayo Medical
Laboratories and make business recommendation to Mayo Clinic representatives.
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Concordia’s annual Celebration of Student Scholarship took place on April 13, 2016. The
daylong event highlighted student research, scholarship and creative experiences.
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This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the purchase of the Turtle River Lake property
which is home to seven permanent culturally-authentic villages that are part of Concordia’s
Language Village (CLV) Program. It is also the 40th Anniversary of Lac dui Bois
Hackensack, which is CLV’s longest-running French Program.
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The Concordia Homecoming dates for this fall are October 7-9, 2016. Learn more at
ConcordiaCollege.edu/homecoming.
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On October 31, 2016, Concordia will celebrate its 125th Anniversary.
Please keep classmates, who have died, and their families in your thoughts and prayers, as well as
those who may be struggling at this time with illness, or some kind of loss. Please also keep
Concordia in your thoughts as you make plans for giving. Your gifts support scholarships and
financial aid, academic programs, operations of the College, and student services. Thank you to
those who have made gifts in the past, as well as to those who plan to make a contribution in the
future. (ConcordiaCollege.edu/classgift)
As I reflect on the conflicts that are going on in the world today, I think about a quote by the late
Elie Wiesel (Holocaust survivor). “Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his
creatures; peace is our gift to each other.” I wish peace to all of you. Take care and give strong
consideration to coming back for our 50th Homecoming reunion in 2020. The laughter alone with
make it all worthwhile. As the comedian Milton Berle once said, “Laughter is an instant vacation!”
In Peace and Laughter,
Cynthia Sillers