Class Notes
Giving List

Spring 2013

Dear Classmate,

With the melting of snow and budding of trees just beginning for many, it may be hard to believe that October is just around the corner. Why the anticipation? October 4-6 is the date for our thirty-fifth reunion, and we hope you are planning to attend. 

Whether you make regular trips to Decorah or haven’t been back to Luther in years (perhaps since we graduated), it’s wonderful to come back home to Luther, experience the campus, explore Decorah and, most importantly, renew friendships. There are resources on the Luther web site to help you plan your trip. Please plan to stay through Saturday evening and attend our class reunion reception/dinner. We’ll be sending you more information on the reunion this summer.

As always, there is much happening on campus. We thought we’d share a few items:

• Last year President Rick Torgerson announced he would be ending his tenure as president of the college this summer. President Torgerson and his wife, Judy, have served Luther as dedicated, visionary leaders for 14 years. We hope you’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the Torgersons at the many alumni events they’ve attended across the country. The Board of Regents recently announced that a Nordic studies center will be established at Luther and will be named the Richard L. and Judith A. Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies.
• Luther continues to nurture exceptional leaders. Senior Georgianna Whiteley was named a Rhodes Scholar this fall, one of only 32 students selected nationally. After her studies at the University of Oxford in England she intends to study medicine and become a physician dealing with global health issues and global health inequities.
• “Tidings of Comfort and Joy,” this year’s Christmas at Luther performance, was broadcast across the country during the holiday season. Did you know that the 2008 broadcast of Christmas at Luther received an Emmy?   

Thank you to all who contributed to the Luther College Annual Fund this past year. Alumni participation in the fund is critically important as many charitable foundations and corporations that support Luther consider your annual gift a vote of confidence in the college. And as always, thank you for encouraging the young women and men you know to consider Luther College—this is truly one of the most important contributions you can make to the college. Be sure to urge them to take a trip to visit the campus, so they can experience the Luther College we all know.

In closing, we hope to see you at Homecoming this fall—it will be a blast!

John and Julie (Johnson) Nelson
jujohntx@verizon.net

PS.  On behalf of the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Reunion Committee, we’d like to share the following news with you:

In honor of our 35^th Anniversary Reunion, we—the Class of 1978—are establishing the Class of 1978 Scholarship!  By establishing this scholarship, our class ensures that future generations have the opportunity to receive a Luther College education.  Everyone’s support is needed, as it takes $25,000 to establish an endowed scholarship.  Contact giving@luther.edu for information about the class scholarship, and how you can make your gift today!

Class Notes
RACHEL (ANDERSEN) and DAVID FALDET ’79 live in Decorah.  Rachel—an assistant professor of English at Luther—wrote an article for the Decorah Journal entitled “Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee: Confessions of a Royal Watcher.” 

JERRY GILMERE is an educational media coordinator for Division of Continuing Education in Iowa City, Iowa.

Obituary
Stephen Matthew Oelwein Schreitmueller of Ames, Iowa, died July 7, 2012, at age 56. Born in Austin, Minn., he graduated in 1973 from East High School in Waterloo, Iowa, and in 1978—with a social work major—from Luther. Steve went on to earn a master’s degree in social work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In 1976 he married Julie Ann Gorder. Throughout his career as a family therapist, Steve helped many people while employed at the Department of Human Services, Lutheran Social Services, Mary Greeley Medical Center, Clinical Associates of Ames, Broadlawns Medical Center, and Magellan Behavioral Services. He was a member of the Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames and loved reading and listening to music.  Steve is survived by his daughter—Sarah Michelle Oelwein Schreitmueller—and son, James Andrew Gorder Schreitmueller; ex-wife, Julie (GORDER) Schreitmueller ‘77; father and stepmother, Sylvester and Darlene Schreitmueller; two sisters, Kathryn Schreitmueller and Kristin (Schreitmueller) Meier ’72; brother-in-law, Tim Meier ’73; and a niece and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother, Ruth, and sister, Karen Schreitmueller ’73.

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: