Spring 2020
Dear Members of the Class of 1962,
Like colleges all over the country (and the world), Luther College is experiencing a spring semester like no other. Our students are participating in remote learning, connecting with their professors and classmates online. It certainly isn't the spring semester we imagined, but Luther is responding with resiliency and creativity.
Many of us are making adjustments, sometimes daily or even hourly, to these uncertain times but we wanted to connect with you and to send you John's letter that he wrote to you, the Class of 1962, just weeks before we became immersed in the COVID-19 pandemic. We think you'll enjoy reading what he has to share, knowing, of course, that any events referenced may have been cancelled or postponed.
We hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during these times. For updated information about Luther's response to the pandemic, visit
luther.edu.
Many thanks for your steadfast love and support.
Mariah Bringer Smith ‘95
Director of Development, Current Gifts
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Dear Class of '62,
I have in my mind to encourage you to buy a book – not my book, but the one that comes from one of our own. It is entitled
Deadliest Enemy
and subtitled, “Our War Against Killer Germs” by Michael Osterholm '75. He is a Regents Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota and currently serves on the Luther College Board of Regents. There are many international investigations in which he has participated, dealing with various epidemic outbreaks. Mentioned in the book is the present scourge of coronavirus producing a thousand cases of COVID-19, the high-risk infection threatening world health.
His book is well written and understandable by most. It is a warning to be prepared to deal with what we fear might be coming, based on his experience of many past infections. Particularly there is a need for protective equipment, such as special N95 masks for patient care.
This book comes at a most needed time in which many seek reliable, professional information as to how to protect ourselves and our families. We should also take pride that a Luther graduate is leading the response to this deadly outbreak. Particularly is his thankfulness to the Luther Biology Department, which prepared him to assume such an important national and international role in guiding many who are responsible to make essential policy decisions at this critical time in our history. It reminds us that there have been a number of Luther graduates who have assumed important posts in time of war and peace, and have made the college proud of their service to the country and to the world. Osterholm gives credit to a number of his teachers in biology in preparing him to do impressive work at the University of Minnesota, where he did his graduate studies.
In 1527, Martin Luther wrote the letter “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague” as the Black Death passed through his hometown of Wittenberg. As coronavirus threatens our neighbors and loved ones, I invite you to reflect on how we can best protect each other in any century. The following quote from Martin Luther is definitely timeless.
I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. – Martin Luther
Sic semper,
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John Helgeland
1962 Class Agent
105 3rd Street N, Apt. 302
Moorhead, MN 56560-1940
218-512-0578
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OBITUARIES
Harland Bjugan
of Jasper, Minn., died Nov. 4, 2019, age 79.
Joseph Kent Dougherty
of Rochester, Minn., died Sept. 30, 2019, age 81.
Davis “Dave” Carlyle Gilbertson
of Albert Lea, Minn., died Oct. 30, 2019, age 79.
Charlie R. "Tuna" Peterson
of Plymouth, Minn., died Feb. 18, 2020, age 80.
Helen M. (Knutson) Porter
of New Berlin Wis., died Jan. 20, 2020, age 79.
Dorothy “Lynn” (Proudfoot) Zemke
of Clare, Mich., died May 6, 2019, age 78.
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