CLASS NOTES
NEWS
1958
ROSS HENRY LARSON recently retired from the parish ministry, Racine,
Wis., and is teaching full-time at Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis. He
writes a monthly article for The Clergy Journal which he has been doing
for ten years.
1959
DANIEL SIMUNDSON (Maywood, B.D.), professor of Old Testament at
Luther Seminary, spent the fall 1999 semester on sabbatical in Iceland
where he taught at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. To cap off
the experience, the university awarded an honorary doctor of theology
to Simundson at its opening convocation in September 2000. Simundson’s
late wife, Sally, was with her husband when he received the honorary doctorate.
The couple spent the fall semester in Iceland, but returned to St. Paul
in December due to Sally’s need for medical treatment. She recently
lost a 10-year battle with cancer.
1960
ALBERT R. AHLSTROM (M.Div., Augustana) is interim pastor at Third
Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rhinebeek, N.Y., and was recently elected
to the board of trustees of the Kingston Library, a public library serving
the city of Kingston, N.Y. (New York’s first capital).
1964
DENNIS JOHNSON (M.Div., Augustana) received the "Greater Gustavus
Award" from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., at its commencement
exercises last May. The award is the highest given by the college’s
alumni association and is presented to individuals who have significantly
advanced and aided the school. While serving parishes in Minnesota and
Texas, Johnson was a member of the college’s board of trustees, a
member and past president of the alumni association board, a class agent
and general chair of the alumni fund. Having joined the school’s
administration in 1985, Johnson retired as vice president for college
relations last spring.
1977
DANIEL NAGLE (M.Div.) was one of 12 U.S. Army chaplains promoted
to the rank of colonel. Dan, his wife, Donna, and their daughters, Ingrid
and Meredith, live in Wuerzburg, Germany.
1980
DEAN BARD (M.Div.) began in November a call as assistant to the
bishop of the Delaware-Maryland Synod. He recently completed his assignment
as the first director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's
Wittenberg Center in Wittenberg, Germany. From 1986-91, Bard was associate
vice president for development at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
1982
JEROME R. KOCH (M.Div.) was granted tenure and promoted to associate
professor of sociology at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. In 1994,
he received the doctor of philosophy degree in sociology from Purdue University.
1986
BARBARA L. BARTH (Seminex, M.Div.) is rector at St. Michael’s
Episcopal Church, Auburn, Maine.
1991
JAMES VIGEN (Ph.D.) is pastor of Stavanger International Church,
Stavanger, Norway, and an adjunct professor of mission at the School of
Mission and Theology, Stavanger (associated with the Norwegian Missionary
Society).
1993
ELNA K. SOLVANG (M.Div.) received the doctor of philosophy degree
in biblical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary in May. Her dissertation
is titled "A Woman’s Place is in the House: Royal Women of Judah
and Their Involvement in the House of David." Solvang is a member
of the religion department faculty at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.
JUDITH KIRCHOFF (M.Div.) was profiled in the July 26, 2000 edition
of The Lakeland Times, Minocqua, Wis. In the article she spoke of her
20-year hiatus from the church, and the "intense reconversion"
that resulted in her leaving a 25-year teaching career to attend the seminary.
In the article, Kirchoff said, "After 20 years of spiritual search
I listened…As I again entered the church, I was changed. Now I saw
faith active, alive and vibrant." Speaking kindly of her alma mater,
Kirchoff commented, "I was giving up a career, home and friends.
I had to trust that God would lead me to the seminary that was right for
me. I wanted to be steeped in tradition, to go deeply into Lutheranism
and the Lutheran understanding of the Gospel. I also wanted to be blown
wide open at the edges to prepare to minister to a multi-cultural society.
I wanted to immerse myself in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, urban environment.
I wanted to be in the midst of tension."
Although she was open to being called anywhere, Kirchoff "trusted
in the Holy Spirit," and was called as pastor of Shepherd of the
Lakes Lutheran Church, Sayner, Wis., giving her the opportunity to return
to her rural roots.
1999
LYNN ALLAN KAUPPI (M.A., 1990, Ph.D. 1999) began in November a
position as development editor with Abingdon Press (the publishing arm
of the United Methodist Church) in Nashville, Tenn. Prior to that he was
an adjunct professor at Valparaiso University and did freelance copyediting
and proofreading.
PHILIP RUGE-JONES (Ph.D.), assistant professor of theology at Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, was one of 25 professors to be selected from a national pool of applicants to attend "Traversing Borders: A Southwestern Studies Faculty Institute" supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
2000
PHILIP D. WITKOP was ordained at St. John's Lutheran Church, Springfield,
Ill., in October and called to Trinity Lutheran Church, Litchfield, Ill.
NEW ARRIVALS
1992
CHARLES HARRIS (M.Div.) and his wife, Christine, a daughter, Katherine
Maija Brooks, on Jan. 8. Katherine joins brother Thomas. The family lives
in Port Orchard, Wash.
IN MEMORIAM
Our Christian sympathy is extended to:
1959
Daniel Simundson (Maywood, B.D.) on the death of his wife, Sally,
who lost a 10-year battle with cancer (see also 1959, above).
The family and friends of Dr. Paul F. Hultquist who died Oct. 12, 2000. Hultquist served on the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago board of directors from 1972-78.
The family and friends of Richard “Dick” Baker who died in an automobile accidentthe first weekend in March. Mr. Baker served on the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago board of directors from 1985-94. He is survived by his wife, Joan, two children and three grandchildren.
