Class Notes
Giving List

Spring 2013

Greetings from one of the many snowbirds migrating to the southern warmth that rejuvenates the spirit.  When you think back to Jesus’s environment, He was living in a warm climate year around.   Jesus had no need for “snowbirding.” He lived with the sun warming His spirit each and every day!

I have been thinking about our generation the last several weeks and decided to share some thoughts in this letter.  I was wondering where it came from and curious about the application now of descriptive terms for generations, such as  The Greatest Generation, The Silent Generation, The Gen X Generation, and the Millennials. 

We reference the word frequently, as in, taking a “five-generation picture” or “In my generation we…” So, of course, what do we do these days when we want an answer, we say, “Let’s Google it.”    The dictionary defines generation as “the entire body of individuals born and living at about the same time.”  It further tells us that the accepted terms of  years is about 30,  the period between birth of parents and birth of their offspring.  However, the span in the generations listed above is usually 20 years.

Roughly speaking, the Greatest Generation was our parents; the Silent Generation is us; the Gen Xers are our children, and the Millennials, or as they are called by some, The Generation Y, are our grandchildren.

The consensus of most writers describing the Silent Generation is summed up in a few facts:

• Born between 1925-1942, with 52.5 million live births

• Smallest group in last 100 years

• Lived modestly and saved their money

• Loyal to country and civic-minded

• Submissive—raised in a paternalistic environment, they respected authority

• Good team players

• Tech-challenged

• Traditionalists in morals and values

• Wealthy

• Hard working―considered work a privilege.

We have been described as THE SILENT GENERATION, TRADITIONALISTS, and THE LUCKY FEW.      

When you think about our generation being referred to as “wealthy, I can’t help but flash back to our unbelievable class pledge total of almost three-quarters of a million dollars.

In regard to the “lucky few” characteristics, I personally benefitted from this societal condition.  Fewer children were born during the Depression and World War II, thus creating fewer people competing for scholarships, jobs, rising up the ranks in business, military, and professional institutions, etc.  Unheard of now, I received a full two-year scholarship to complete the social work master’s degree, completely covering tuition, room and board, and even spending money.  The only requirement was working for Lutheran Social Services for two years.  Many of you probably have similar examples when you graduated.

Contrast that “no debt” situation and the first two years of guaranteed employment that I experienced to our children’s thousands of dollars of education debt, and no guaranteed employment.  I always felt blessed, or as some call it, “lucky.”

Some say we’re the silent generation because we never produced a president.  I say we were behind the scenes, “silently” accomplishing one of the greatest “acts” of American history:  The Civil Rights Act.   In reflecting on the days at Luther, it is interesting to me that we are credited with this, since our culture in college was completely homogeneous.  If we are honest with ourselves, diversity probably made us uncomfortable at first, even though we believed it was absolutely the right thing to do.  Now, our children, the Gen Xers, embrace diversity and our grandchildren, the Millennials, celebrate diversity. 

Traditionalists—no argument there.  Many of us are Norwegian; we all went to Luther; we most likely eat and/or make lefse, and we embrace traditional morals and values.  So, how many of you have Norwegian sweaters?  Seriously, I can completely relate to this characteristic.  I admit to rosemaling art on my walls, “God Jul” candles at Christmas, and a krumkake iron in my cupboard.   Unfortunately, I had to give my Norwegian sweater to my daughter because it was too small!

Some further characteristics of us as traditionalists state we value security, conformity, commitment, and consistency.

In the opinion of one Silent Generation fellow in a letter to the USA Today newspaper, he said he thought the baby boomers should quit whining.  After all, the Silent Generation survived two of the most “horrific events” in world history:  the Great Depression and World War II.  He pointed out that our generation learned valuable lessons from them:  namely, the rewards of hard work; the importance of making a personal sacrifice for the common good; and the value of accepting personal responsibility.

In my opinion, I wish the second one, working for the common good, could be a mantra for all of the four generations alive today.

In closing, I would just like to share a few characteristics about the Gen X group, since a lot of us would have children in this category.  The publication “The Gen X Report,” published in 2011, defines Gen Xers as people born between 1961-1981.  Generally, they are highly educated, active, balanced, happy, and family-oriented.  Often change is more the rule than the exception.  Gen Xers tend to be heterogeneous in all areas of race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.  The US Census tells us that statistically our kids have the highest education levels, when comparing current age groups.

It seems to me that the Silent Generation has many accomplishments, not the least of which is raising our children with the above results!

I hope you all have a wonderful spring and summer. 

God’s blessings to each of you,

Karin (Wolding) Abel
abelkarin6@gmail.com

Obituary
Douglas Jordan of Henderson, Nev., died May 20, 2012, at age 73. He grew up in Spring Green, Wis., and attended Luther―where he sang in Nordic Choir―and the University of Wisconsin, earning a master’s degree and nearly completing a doctorate in physics. Before becoming a management trainer and consultant, Doug taught high school science at schools in Wisconsin, including Arena High School and Evansville High School. He lived in Washington, D.C., for 30 years, where he owned and managed apartment rentals. A man with keen interests and a scientific mind, Doug designed and built race cars when living in Wisconsin. A prized possession was his 1969 Porsche 911. Doug enjoyed skiing, devising and crafting innovative items in his woodworking shop, and rooting for the Green Bay Packers, no matter where he lived. When living in Washington, he began riding horses, eventually owning and showing his much-loved dressage horses, Mooch and Emily. Doug sang for many years in the choir at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Washington, D.C. After moving to Nevada, he was welcomed into the community at New Song Church in Henderson, where he looked forward to Sunday services. A kind, sensitive, gentle, and caring man, Doug suffered from dementia, and for the past year, he had resided at the Siena Hills Memory Care facility in Henderson. He is survived by his wife, Wendy Adler Jordan; daughter, Heather; sister, Lynne (Jordan) Enerson ’63; two nephews; and many other relatives and friends. In 2009 Doug and his sister, Lynne, established the Marlin and Lillian Jordan Music Scholarship at Luther, in honor of their parents.

Don't forget your Annual Fund giving!
Each year nearly 9,000 alumni, parents, and friends support the Annual Fund with gifts from $5 to $50,000. Strong support from alumni helps Luther secure additional funds from foundations and corporations, and your gift each year helps us reach our goal of 27% alumni giving.  Here’s how your class—and surrounding classes—did in 2012:

Anonymous
Irvin Aal
Karin (Wolding) Abel
Bill Bailey
Vern Barlow*
Alvin Berg
Sandra (Sundberg) Bergman*
Maryellen (Amundson) Boe*
Dagny (Hexom) Boebel*
Carol Borson*
Velna (Skjolaas) Bostrack*
John Bostrom*
John Braaten
Michael Brunsvold*
R. Eric Carlson*
Shirley (Udstuen) Carpenter
C. Gerald Christenson
Ronald Christian
Marilyn (Branstad) Cornell
Laurene (Olson) Davidson*
Leilani (Hovden) De Muth*
Dennis Dedrick
Gregory Dotseth*
Sandra (Swenson) Eliason
Phyllis Engebretson
Marilyn (Ulven) Erdahl*
Audrey (Pederson) Erdman*
Daryl Erdman*
Jerry Erickson*
Karen (Kiland) Erlander*
Barbara (Sanden) Fett*
Shirley (Lilleskov) Fjoslien*
Arlene (Knudsen) Foltz
Paul Forde*
Thomas Foster
Ronald Fretheim*
DeLyle Fure
Robert Gerber
James Gesme*
Naomi (Borreson) Hanson*
Greggory Harmon
Dianne (Foss) Hartzell*
Rodney Hatle*
Garnet (Johnson) Haugen
Thomas Haugen*
Jane (Hurd) Helgeson*
Ronald Hested
Paul Hexom
Gloria (Kach) Hove*
Howard Jacobson
Andrea (Bakken) James*
Charles Johnson
Karen (Gulsvig) Johnson*
Milton Johnson
Shirley (Stark) Jorde*
Wayne Kivell*
Judith (Hestenes) Knutson*
Bonna (Anderson) Krafts
James Kroneman
June (Olson) Krull-Bonderman*
Joseph Larson
Karen (Mostrom) Larson*
O. Dale Larson
Geraldine (Freeman) Lee*
Franklin Lee*
Nancy (Rovang) Lee
Ronald Lee*
Dagny Lund*
Karin (Knutsen) Lyon*
William Lyon*
Janet (Amundson) Moen*
Loren Moen
Dale Mundt*
Barbara (Kumm) Nelson*
Judith (Haugen) Nelson*
Alan Nordhem*
LaMay (Sexe) Nybroten
Elaine (Redalen) Olson
Janice (Gulbranson) Olson
Anita (Haugen) Omodt*
Norman Omodt*
Glen Orr
Marjorie (Myrah) Parkos*
Luther Peterson
Jonathan Preus*
Ken Rasmussen
Douglas Reasa*
James Ringlien*
William Roach
Audrey (Wogen) Rober*
Deanna (Blunt) Roen
Robert Rosedahl
Ann (Knutson) Rotto*
Alma Rotto-Morgan*
Richard Rud
Frederick Schneider
Jack Schultz
Daniel Seidelmann*
Richard Simmering*
Ruth (Steenson) Skaar
David Smedstad
Cynthia (Vasey) Smith
Paul Solberg*
LaVonne (Leng) Solomonson*
Lynn Steen*
Judith (Aandahl) Stelzig
Allan Stoa
Nancy (Skinner) Stoa
Ronald Sundberg
David Swenson
Owen Thorson*
Anita (Buss) Turck*
Dean Vigeland
Jane (Baker) Wallestad
Darlene (Johnson) Wheeler
Carolyn (Forde) White
Anita (Thurin) Wildermuth
Barbara (Gumz) Willis*
Jon Wogen
Norbert Wurtzel*
Robert Zaiser*