IN MEMORIAM

In the Dallas suburb where I grew up, everyone knew the Cowboys had summer training camp in Thousand Oaks, which was supposed to be grueling but was something to envy during the heat wave of 1980.

Still, I hadn’t heard of Cal Lutheran. As editor of your alumni magazine since 2011, I saw this repeated as a pattern. I would realize, during an interview with a CLU graduate or sometimes right after, that I ought to have known this name before. My go-to example is Caroline Cottom ’64, who became director of the U.S. nuclear freeze campaign and one of the people most responsible for the government’s decision to stop testing the terrifying weapons in 1992. She has plenty to say about that and, in a world a bit better than this one, would be famous.

There are others. A three-time Paralympian and 12-time medalist ought to be recognized wherever she goes. ButCortney Jordan ’13 swam mostly under the radar as captain of both her U.S. national team and the Regals’ NCAA intercollegiate team.

A fine observer of people who grew up amid civil war in Zimbabwe, Fortunate Hove ’11, MPPA ’14, deserves more attention for her writing, and may one day receive it. Jesus “Chuy” Loza ’93 has a great rags-toriches story and clearly never forgot where he started. I could definitely go on. My point is that the people I’ve come across while serving as an editor for the university have made a serious impression on me, and I have been motivated to share that. I don’t mean to play down the actual fame of alumni in fields from medicine to music, or on the top teams and coaching staffs in sports.

I do think that Cal Lutheran alumni characteristically make contributions behind the scenes. And keep making them. Desta Hagos ’73, well-known as a painter in her native Ethiopia, taught me in one conversation where art comes from and new ways to appreciate it. Decades after graduating, she was in her most productive phase.

Since I’ll be moving soon, you have the last CLU Magazine I’ll see to print. These 26 issues would have been far poorer without alumni on the team: former art director Michael L. Adams ’72, former editor Carol Keochekian ’81, photographer Brian Stethem ’84, publisher Lynda Paige Fulford, MPA ’97, and editorial board members Michaela (Crawford ’79) Reaves, Bruce Stevenson ’80, Jean Kelso ’84 Sandlin, MPA ’90, EdD ’12, Stacy (Reuss ’91) Swanson, Angela (Moller ’96) Naginey, MS ’03, Edgar Aguirre ’99, Rachel Ronning ’99 Lindgren and Jonathan Gonzales ’04, MS ’07. Thanks for reading. It’s been a great pleasure to meet you. —Kevin Matthews Your names should be in lights

Siri Eliason 1932 – 2019

Siri Eliason, former Cal Lutheran regent and longtime supporter, died on Dec. 15, 2019. She was 87. Eliason served on the Board of Regents from 1994 to 2003, a critical period in the university’s growth. As the board’s chair from 1999 to 2002, she oversaw the sale of land that eventually became University Village Thousand Oaks. She was instrumental in the development of a strategic plan guiding the $93 million “Now is the Time” capital campaign. Her leadership and business acumen helped the university to build north campus athletics facilities and create programs, centers, endowed professorships and scholarships. Eliason strengthened Cal Lutheran’s community ties through the Scandinavian Cultural Center, the annual Scandinavian Festival and Nordic Spirit Symposium, and other activities. The university awarded her an Exemplar Medallion in 1986 and an Honorary Alumni Award in 2018.

A native of northern Sweden, she moved with her husband, Sven, to Los Angeles in 1957 and developed Scandiline Industries, which manufactured furniture in the U.S. and Europe. She also served as president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Danica Inc., a retail furniture chain. Sven was named honorary consul general of Sweden for Northern California in 1984, and Siri was appointed to succeed him after his death a year later.

Eliason held positions with numerous Scandinavian American organizations and was director of Scandinavia Today Inc., a major cultural project in Los Angeles. She was recognized by King Carl XVI Gustaf with the Royal Order of the Polar Star in 1978 and by the National Ethnic Coalition with the Ellis Island Award in 1984. In 1993, she received the Eliason Award, a distinction created in memory of her husband, from the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, and in 1996 was named Swedish American of the Year by the Vasa Order of America.

She is survived by her daughter, Jane.