ALUMNI NEWS
IN MEMORIAM
SHARON (LUNDE) ELLINGSON ‘58 of Strasburg, North Dakota, died Oct. 16, 2016. Sharon was a loving mother, wife and grandmother. She enjoyed entertaining, cooking, bowling and attending her grandchildren's sporting events. ADRIAN PLOEGSTRA ‘58 of Elkhart died Aug. 17, 2016. Adrian served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954 and attended Waldorf upon discharge where he met Shirley Sande ‘58. They were married in 1964. After graduating from Luther College in 1960, Adrian went to work for Farm Bureau Insurance and was there until his retirement in 1992. His main hobby was farming his 340 acres and working on his tractors and equipment. Adrian also loved to travel, visiting all 50 states and every continent except for Antarctica. Adrian is survived by his wife Shirley ‘58; his children, Paula, Mark and Carl ‘91; and two grandchildren.
IN MEMORIAM: 1960s RUTH (SCHREUR) DIRKSEN ‘60 died Dec. 2, 2016 in Buffalo Center. Ruth enjoyed gardening, working on the farm, baking, reading,
being a housewife and helping others. She is survived by her husband Larry, three children, 15 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a sister-in-law.
LAUREL ANN (PAULSON) FLORA ‘60 died Oct. 15, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from Waldorf in 1960, Laurel Ann received her ASCP certification in medical technology and spent more than four years providing medical services at Sudan Mission Hospital in Ngaoundere, Cameroon, Africa. After returning to the U.S., she moved to Portland where she worked as a medical technologist for many years. Laurel Ann is survived by her two children, sisters Marlys and Elaine (Paulson) Fick ‘63 and brother, Arlan. SHIRLEEN (CHARLSON) HOWIESON ‘61 of Delavan, Minnesota, died Sept. 16, 2011.
SHERRY (GRUNSTED) MCDONALD ‘61 of Roland died Oct. 10, 2016. Sherry is survived by her two sons, five grandchildren, a greatgrandson and two sisters, Mary Ann Anderson and Bev (Grunsted) Stole ‘56. ROGER OPPEDAHL ‘61 died Oct. 29, 2016, in Fort Dodge. Roger was a pilot and served in Vietnam and then as an aerial firefighter in Alaska. In May 2015, Roger was awarded the prestigious Wright
IN MEMORIAM: REV. ROBERT VAAGE ‘79 The REV. ROBERT (BOB) VAAGE '79, of First Lutheran Church, West Okoboji, Iowa, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016 at Spencer Hospital. He was 57 years old. Bob was born on Feb. 27, 1959 in Forest City to LaVern and Karen Vaage. Dedicating his life to Christ at a very young age, he attended Waldorf from 1977–1979 where he cultivated many lifelong friendships and served as religious life director. He attended Oral Roberts University for one semester and transferred to Concordia College in early 1980. It’s here where he met the love of his life, DeeAnn, while singing together on an outreach team. Following his graduation in 1981, Bob felt called to ordained ministry and began studying at Luther Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul. A year later, on Sept. 4, 1982, Bob and Dee were married in Herman, Minnesota. In 1985—under the faithful leadership of his lifelong mentor, Pastor Durwood Clauson—
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Bob completed an internship at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church and accepted his calling as associate pastor to First Lutheran Church in Sioux City on June 8, 1986. In 1996 Bob was called to serve as senior pastor to First Lutheran Church in Milford where he devoted 20 years of service. One of his greatest accomplishments at First Lutheran was building a new home for the church on Three Cross Road. Bob had a passion for preaching, evangelism, mission work, camping ministry, contemporary worship and mentoring interns and lay leaders within the church. One of his gifts was remembering people’s names even after only one encounter. He loved to play guitar during worship and many times used it to entertain nursing home residents. He was an active member of Lutheran Services in Iowa, Kiwanis Club of Milford, Via de Cristo and the Dickinson Country Ministerial Association. Bob is survived by his wife DeeAnn, their three sons Jonathan (Michea)
of Austin, Texas; Christopher of Austin, Texas; and Erik of St. Paul, Minnesota; his parents, LaVern and Karen (Stossivich) Vaage of Mason City, Iowa; and one brother, Jeff (Beth) Vaage of Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Bob was preceded in death by his grandparents and other extended family members.
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