{"id":8386,"date":"2025-11-19T00:47:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T00:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=8386"},"modified":"2025-11-19T21:21:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T21:21:26","slug":"alumni-news-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2025\/11\/19\/alumni-news-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni news"},"content":{"rendered":"

The listings in this publication include notifications received by August 1.<\/em><\/p>\n

1950s<\/h2>\n

Raymond Mehl \u201957<\/strong> died on March 20. He served a two-point parish and later a mission church, both in Wisconsin. He was director of alumni affairs and director of development at Waldorf College in Iowa. He then served as director of development for the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society until retirement in 1996. In retirement, he served as a visitation pastor at a parish in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

James Sjolie \u201959 B.Th.<\/strong> died on May 12. He served congregations in Minnesota and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

1960s<\/h2>\n

Gordon Narvesen \u201960 M.Div.<\/strong> died on March 11. He served congregations in Minnesota, New York, and Maryland.<\/p>\n

John Henning \u201963 B.Div.<\/strong> died on April 7. He served parishes in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He also served on the Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan board of directors and as conference chair on the Haven Board Domestic Abuse Shelter.<\/p>\n

In 2010, David Lerseth \u201968 M.Div.<\/strong> began a nonprofit called Friends of Madagascar Mission, which has grown into serving the nation of Madagascar in three areas: evangelism (supporting evangelists, prison ministry, and children\u2019s programs), children in peril (supporting street children, girls in danger from sex trafficking, and blind\/deaf programs), and development (supporting the hungry, water well development, farming development, and vocational training in prisons). The organization contributes 100% of its gifts into the program, and the staff is all volunteer.<\/p>\n

1970s<\/h2>\n

James Tonneson \u201970 M.Div.<\/strong> died on March 26. He served congregations in North Dakota and Minnesota. He also served as head chaplain at the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and as an Association for Clinical Pastoral Education certified educator and supervisor in the North-Central Region.<\/p>\n

Dan Olson \u201971 M.Div.<\/strong> died on June 19. He served three parishes in Wisconsin. He also served as both member and president of school boards in New Richmond, Merrill, and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Gary Heedum \u201972 M.Div.<\/strong> died on March 30. He served parishes in Illinois.<\/p>\n

John Jorde \u201972 M.Div.<\/strong> died on March 2. He served congregations in Nevada, South Dakota, and Minnesota, and campus ministries at Wayne State College in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

David Aaseng \u201974 M.Div.<\/strong> died on March 11. He served over a dozen churches (six permanent calls and several interim) until retiring in 2008 and then served as a professional Santa Claus during his retirement.<\/p>\n

1980s<\/h2>\n

Dolores Burtness \u201980 M.A.<\/strong> died on February 16. She taught Greek and worked at the Luther Seminary library while teaching religion classes at Augsburg College. Dolores and her husband, Jim, were longtime members of St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church. Their homes in St. Anthony Park were warm gathering spots for their wide circle of friends, family, and seminary colleagues.<\/p>\n

Joel Dahlen \u201980 M.Div.<\/strong> recently self-published two books: \u201cA Little to the Right of Crazy\u201d and \u201cFencepost Theology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russ Myers \u201985 M.Div., \u201903 D.Min.<\/strong> served as chaplain at Allina Health for 31 years, retiring in December 2024. He began his service at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1993. In 2006, he was invited by Allina Emergency Medical Services chief Brian LaCroix to join the EMS team in support of the paramedics, EMTs, and dispatchers. Over the next 18 years, he built the position into a proactive chaplaincy, embedded and integrated into the daily operations. His efforts led to an organization-wide well-being program that now includes a peer support team, dedicated EAP providers, therapy dogs, meditation rooms, and two clinically trained mental health chaplains. He has contributed to EMS World, the Journal of Emergency Medical Services, and EMS1, and is the author of \u201cBecause We Care: A Handbook for Chaplaincy in Emergency Medical Services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina Tweet \u201989 M.Div.<\/strong> died on October 23, 2024. She first attended Luther Seminary in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when she held an internship as an on-call chaplain in Hennepin County Medical Center. She later interned at a Lutheran church in Salt Lake City, coordinating a symposium for Lutheran pastors on Mormonism. She returned to Luther in 1986, interning at a church in Illinois. After graduation, she lived in the Washington, D.C., area, Michigan, and Louisiana, serving as a visitation pastor in Michigan.<\/p>\n

1990s<\/h2>\n

Randall Engle \u201994 M.S.M.<\/strong> was awarded the 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award from Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Engle was previously awarded \u201cMost Inspirational Professor\u201d by the student body of the university\u2019s Honors College in 2019. Engle, who is also pastor of North Hills Christian Reformed Church of Troy, began teaching an Introduction to Christianity course in 2010, shortly after he received his Ph.D. The classes, course offerings, and enrollment grew such that Engle was appointed director of Christianity studies in 2023. In 2025, Oakland University will graduate six students who majored or minored in Christianity studies.<\/p>\n

Shauna Hannon \u201998 M.Div.<\/strong> was named president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, effective July 1. Most recently, she was professor of preaching at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. In 2024, she coauthored \u201cScripting a Sermon: Using the Wisdom of Filmmaking for Impactful Preaching\u201d with Gael Chandler, published by Westminster John Knox Press.<\/p>\n

2000s<\/h2>\n

Dean Smith \u201901 M.Div.<\/strong> completed an M.A. in marriage and family therapy from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul.<\/p>\n

Amy Eisenmann \u201908 M.Div.<\/strong> accepted a call as lead pastor at Bethel Lutheran in Wahpeton, North Dakota.<\/p>\n

2010s<\/h2>\n

Kyle Svennungsen \u201914 M.Div.<\/strong> is senior pastor at St. John American Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.<\/p>\n

Jeff Brown \u201915 M.Div.<\/strong> was elected to the position of minister general for the Order of Lutheran Franciscans, an independent Lutheran organization of the ELCA and its first religious order.<\/p>\n

Anne (Jackson) Kadue \u201916 M.Div.<\/strong> was received into the clergy of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church as a provisional elder in June 2025.<\/p>\n

2020s<\/h2>\n

Grace Pardun \u201920 M.Div.<\/strong> was featured in the article \u201cNew SCI Chaplain Commits to \u2018Bring God\u2019s Love\u2019 to Mariners\u201d in The Waterways Journal Weekly on April 11. Prior to starting her new role as supervisory chaplain for Seamen\u2019s Church Institute\u2019s Ministry on the River, she was pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Paducah, Kentucky, and volunteered as a chaplain for SCI.<\/p>\n

Mercedes Roesche \u201924 M.Div.<\/strong> began in July 2025 as a philanthropic advisor at Luther Seminary. She works remotely from her family\u2019s farm and ranch in rural eastern Colorado, where she volunteers in local congregations with preaching and community service and through her involvement in Faith+Lead.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jonathan Rundman \u201922 M.Div.<\/strong> serves as pastor of worship and music at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Prior Lake, Minnesota. He recently released \u201cWaves,\u201d a new album of original songs. Two of the songs on the album were written as seminary assignments\u2014\u201cHospital\u201d as a Clinical Pastoral Education project when he was a hospital chaplain and \u201cAtonement Theory Girls\u201d as a book report on Gustaf Aul\u00e9n\u2019s famous book, \u201cChristus Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read more from Winter\u00a0 2025<\/h2>\n