Paclftc Lutheran University scene June
1991
25 In Memoriam
In Memori a m
Gladys Mortvedt
Cladys Mortvedt, 89, wife of PLU President Emeritus D r. Robert Mortvent, d ied M ay 28 at Tacoma Lutheran Retirement Home. She was bo rn i n LaSa l l e Cou nty, Ind., J u ne 5 , 1 901 . She attended country schools prior to high school in Newark and Ottawa. She ta ught in a s m a l l country school i n 1 920 and attended St. Olaf Col l ege in N o rt hfiel'd, M i n n . , i n 1 9 23-24. There she met a yo u n g professor, Robert Mortvedt; they were ma rried i n 1 92 6 . Dr. Mortvedt often observed that he received many awards and recog n i t i o n s d u r i n g and fol l o w i n g h i s career. But i t was d u e t o Gl adys' support that he was able to follow career d i rect ions that offered opportu nities for service. He was president of PLU from 1 9 6 2 - 6 9 . M o rtvedt L i b ra ry was named i n his honor. Th ree years ago Mortvedt estab l ished an endowed scholarship at PLU, the Gladys Mortvedt Voluntary Se rvice Award, t h at is awa rded annually to a student who has "qui etly won attention by rendering ser vice without expectation of recog ni tion or compensation." That criteria, M ortvedt explai ned, m i rrored his wife's l ife. The Mortvedts were ma rried for n e a rl y 6 5 years. They h a d one daughter, Patricia Arneson of Cary, III. Mrs. Mortvedt is survi ved b y her husband, daug hter, six g randchil dren, seven g reat-grandch i l d ren and sisters Myrtle Ness and Arly Jacob son. Memorials may be sent to the G l adys M o rtvedt Schola rs h i p Fund at PLU, the Alzheimers Foundation, or the Tacoma Lutheran Retirement Ho m e.
Dorothy Cone
Dorothy M. Cone of Roy, WaS h . , a n u rsing professor at PLU from 1 96 1 to 1 988, d ied May 2 at the age of 64. Cone earned her n u rsing d i ploma, bachelor of science and master of education deg rees at the U n iversity of Minnesota. Prior to joining the PLU faculty she was a staff n u rse i n M i n nesota and Colorado hospitals. From 1 959 to 1 96 1 she was educational coordi nator at Madigan Army Medical Cen ter near Tacoma. During the last decade of her PLU career she served as coordinator of the n u rs i ng curricu l u m com m ittee and l i b rary liaison. S u rvivors i nclude h e r husband, Powell, two sisters and a b rother. Memorials may be sent to the Dorothy Tol l efson Cone Endowed N u rsing Scho l a rs h i p Fund do the PLU Office of Development. Harry Wicks '69 of Colorado Spri ngs, Colo. d ied Feb. 2 8 at the age of 4 3 . He was president and chief executive officer of M a n age ment Development Foundation Ltd. Born i n Tacoma and raised in Lew iston, Mont., where he was b u ried, Wicks was a busi ness admin istration major at PLU, where he excelled i n forensics and was active i n student government. An active PLU a l u m n i supporter and former alumni board preSident, he was named Alumnus of the Year in 1 980. Widely recognized fo r h i s many volunteer activities, h e received Col orado's Vol unteer of the Year award in 1 988 and national recognition for volunteer work in 1 989. He i s su rvived by his wife M i kki (Plumb '69), daughters Heidi and Jill. and two sisters.
Elvin Akre
Doug Herland
Elvin Akre, a PLU history profes sor emeritus, d ied May 1 3 in Shel ton, Wash . , at the age of 88. In recent years he and his wife of 58 years, Magdalyn, had l i ved i n nearby Hoodsport. Akre joi ned the h istory depart ment in 1 9 37 as the second mem ber i n a two-person departm ent. When he retired in 1 972 with what is sti l l the history department's lon gest tenu re, the n u m be r of faculty members in the department had tri pled. Trained in the classics and m usic at Conco rd i a Col lege i n M i n n esota, Akre came to PLU as dean of men, band d i rector and p r i ncipal of the PLC academy. Soon he was teaching American and ancient h istory, and thousands of PLU a l u m n i took h i s Pacific Northwest history course. Born in North Dakota, Akre was a teacher, principal and superi nten dent in seve r a l m i d west h i g h schools before com i ng t o PLU. He earned his master's deg ree at t h e U n i ve rsity of Wash i ngton in 1 941 . During the 1 954-55 academic year he taught i n Norway under a Ful b right Teacher Exchange G rant and stu died at the U n i versity of Oslo. He also studied at Exeter Col lege, Oxford U n i versity, in 1 96 5 . M rs. A k r e stated that through genealogical research they lea rned that he is a d i rect descendent of Norway's fi rst V i k i ng ki ng, Harald the F a i r h a i red. Ancient fa m i l y records are in the Norwegian royal a rch ives. Akre is su rvived by his wife, son Grover, daughter-in-law E l n a May, sister Agnes Engnes and five grand children. Memorials in Akre's name may be sent to the PLU Scandi navian Cultur al Center, which contains a copy of Akre's family history. The Akres also a nticipated est a b l i s h ment of a Viking era research scholarship.
Douglas Herland '73, PLU's only Olympic medal w i n ne r, d i ed M a rch 26 at the age of 39. Herland was the coxswai n on the U n ited States two-man rowing shell that won a b ronze m ed a l at the 1 984 Los Angeles Olym pic Ga mes. He had tried out fo r the Olympic team seven ti mes, from 1 9 7 1 to 1 983, and seven times had been the last m a n cut. H i s acco m p l is h m ent earned him a PLU A l u m nus of the Year award in 1 984. In 1 987 Herland had retu rned to PLU to coach crew and serve as assistant to the d i rector of t he physical plant. He suffered from osteog e n i s is i mperfecta, a b rittle bone d isease that left him partially d i sabled and unusually small at 4 feet. 8 inches. F ro m his days on the PLU crew team, 1 970-73, he had been i nter ested in i n volving disabled people in crew. He was the national d i rector of Rowing in the Mainstream, a p ro g ram that promotes rowing for rec reation, fitness and competition. I n Ann Arbor, M ich., where h e h a d coached t h e U n iversity o f M ichigan rowing team, he founded the Free dom on the River rowi ng p rogram for the disabled. He had a l so coached rowing for Oregon Institute of Technology and the Lake Ewauna (OreJ Rowing Club. F ra n k Fiedler, a col u m n i st i n h i s hometown o f Bend, Ore., recently wrote of him: "He demonstrated how anyt h i ng is possible; how self-imposed l i m ita tions are fa r more detrimental than phYSical l i m itations. Here was a man, out of the m a i n st ream i n many ways, showing what it's really l ike to be rowing with and against the cur rent of l ife." Because of h is achievements i n the face of adverSity, Herland was the subject of several national mag azine feature articles.
Class Nates Continued from page 24 LUO Mannion and Eric Black of Seat· tie were married Dec. 29 in the Moore M a ns ion , Pasco, wash . L i i o works as a model Katle Schmidt and John Hurley of Seat t l e were m arried i n Westm i ns ter Presbyteri a n C h u rch, Olvm pia, Wash . katie 15 a sales rep fa: Centu v 21 Promo (ions. John is a sales reo tor Joh n I_ana Associates.
Michael Lynn and Judy Oblanas of Madison, WiS., were married Jan. 5 at the Maso n U n ited Methodist C h u rch, Taco· ma. Tim Engman and Lfs-a Unterman 1'901 of F ede r a l Way, Wash , were mar ried Sept. 1 5 . T i m is a copier systems spec ia list witl1 Pitney Bowes and Lisa is an R N at· Swed ish Hospital, Seattle Usa Hlllemeyer is graduati ng in May from Ou ke U n l ver'Sity I n North Caroli na wi th a maste r 's i n physical thera py.
Joel Maler is a nanny for an Italian family in M a ngrando. He spent spri ng vacation in France and su mmer at C l u b Med. Cherry Chong m a rried Danny M o k Feb . 22 i n M a laySia. S h e wo rks i n t h e benefits operations dep art ment of Sea Fi rst Bank in Seattle Sarah Rehfeldt of C o l u m bus, O h i o , fin ished h er m aster's i n German l itera tu re a t O h i O State U n i versity . She w i l l s p e n d the next academiC yea r in Germa ny o n a Fulbrigh t 5cholar s l 1 1 p
Karey Wood married Joey Kirk Oct. 7, 1 989. They are l i v i ng i n North Pole, Al aska and are the proud parents of Kay shia Renee. Mary W.alker m a rried Pat D e M u th Dec. 2 9, 1 990, at the Firth U n ited Meth odist C h u rch in Issaquah, Wa sh She is an English teacher at Lakeridge J u n i o r H ig h in Sumner,