{"id":7227,"date":"2023-05-25T09:01:30","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T09:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=7227"},"modified":"2025-08-13T18:25:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T18:25:02","slug":"alumni-news-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2023\/05\/25\/alumni-news-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni news"},"content":{"rendered":"

The listings in this publication include notifications received by February 10.<\/em><\/p>\n

1940s<\/h2>\n
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Richard Nelson \u201945 M.Div.<\/strong> October 21, 2022, after 64 years of active ministry in the United States and Europe.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1950s<\/h2>\n
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LeRoy Flagstad \u201957<\/strong> died on November 25, 2022. He served congregations in South Dakota.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1960s<\/h2>\n
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Arvid Harklau \u201960 M.Div.<\/strong> died on November 8, 2022. He served as a hospital and prison chaplain and as a minister at congregations in Iowa.<\/div>\n
John Christianson \u201963 M.Div.<\/strong> died on November 28, 2022. He served congregations in Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota.<\/div>\n
Arley Kenneth Fadness \u201964 M.Div.<\/strong> is the author of \u201cCapturing the Younger Brothers Gang in the Northern Plains: The Untold Story of Heroic Teen Asel Sorbel,\u201d published in June 2022.<\/div>\n
Walter \u201cSkip\u201d Otto \u201965 M.Div.<\/strong> died on October 6, 2022. He served congregations in Iowa, Minnesota, and New York, and he was a chaplain at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.<\/div>\n
Larry Rasmussen \u201965 M.Div.<\/strong> is author of the book \u201cThe Planet You Inherit: Letters to My Grandchildren When Uncertainty\u2019s a Sure Thing,\u201d published in November 2022.<\/div>\n
Nils \u201cChris\u201d Hellevik \u201966<\/strong> died on August 16, 2022. He served as a minister for more than 40 years.<\/div>\n
Philip Nesset \u201967 M.Div.<\/strong> died on July 1, 2022. He served congregations in California and Oregon.<\/div>\n
Leslie Foss \u201969 M.Div.<\/strong> died on December 16, 2022. He served congregations in North Dakota and Washington<\/div>\n
Julio Loza \u201969<\/strong> died on December 28, 2022. For more than 40 years, he served as a minister at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Chicago.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1970s<\/h2>\n
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Don Marshall \u201978 M.Div.<\/strong> died on December 22, 2022. Marshall served as executive director of the Oaks Indian Mission in Oklahoma, where he acted as the mission\u2019s \u201clifeline,\u201d connecting the mission to Lutheran churches that provided financial support.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1980s<\/h2>\n
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Brad Jenson \u201984 M.Div.<\/strong> is the lead researcher and author of \u201cJoin the Longevity Revolution: A Guide for Financial Advisors and Their Clients,\u201d published in November 2022.<\/div>\n
Craig Larson \u201988 M.Div.<\/strong> was installed as associate pastor at Desert Hills Lutheran Church in Green Valley, Arizona, on December 4, 2022. He has previously served congregations in North Dakota and Arizona.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

1990s<\/h2>\n
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Gregory Isaacson \u201991 M.Div.<\/strong> and Ruth Sanders \u201922 M.Div.<\/strong> are both pastors in the Northern Lights Ministry Collaborative, which is made up of three churches\u2014Trinity Lutheran Church, First Presbyterian Church, and Wesley United Methodist Church\u2014in Crookston, Minnesota. The collaboration began when Isaacson, senior pastor at Trinity, was looking to fill a half-time associate position and First Presbyterian was looking for a half-time pastor. The two churches joined to form a joint call committee and filled the position together. Wesley United Methodist joined the collaborative in May 2022 while searching for a half- time pastor. Sanders was hired and now serves as pastor of congregational care for the collaborative and point pastor for Wesley United Methodist. Isaacson serves as executive pastor for the collaborative.<\/div>\n
Joanne Sorenson \u201992 M.Div.<\/strong> started the nonprofit In Our Hands (inourhandsadventures.com) after moving to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2017. The nonprofit, which takes groups on service and learning trips, led two civil rights pilgrimages for pastors in northwest Wisconsin in 2022. This year, In Our Hands will lead four separate pilgrimages to Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery, Alabama. The nonprofit also recently completed an online book study of \u201cMe and White Supremacy\u201d with trip participants who were interested in talking about unconscious bias and white privilege.<\/div>\n
Kip Groettum \u201995 M.Div.<\/strong> died on October 7, 2022. He served congregations in Iowa and Minnesota.<\/div>\n
Mary Ellen Olson \u201995 M.Div.<\/strong> died on June 1, 2022. She was active in her hometown church\u2019s youth ministry programs and worked as a social worker at Lutheran Social Service and at several Minneapolis churches.<\/div>\n
Julie Fiske \u201997 M.Div.<\/strong> is president and executive director of Growing Hope Foundation, a foundation started by two members of the congregation where she was a pastor. Originally started as an estate plan for the couple, the foundation has grown and now assists donors in deciding where and how to donate to other organizations. An article about Growing Hope ran on January 3 in the Owatonna People\u2019s Press.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2000s<\/h2>\n
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Erik Gravrock \u201907 M.A., \u201913 M.Div.<\/strong> has a new call as intercampus pastor and Bible teacher at Three Rivers Christian School, a K\u201312 school in Longview, Washington.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2010s<\/h2>\n
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Scott Hagley \u201910 Ph.D.<\/strong> was named the W. Don McClure associate professor of world mission and evangelism at Pittsburgh Seminary. He has been a member of the seminary faculty since 2015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2020s<\/h2>\n
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Charles \u201cChip\u201d Lutz \u201922 M.Div.<\/strong> has been awarded the Doug Fletcher Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Read more from Summer 2023<\/h2>\n