REV. OLANDO M. GUNDERSON

The Rev. Olando M. Gunderson, 81, of Tilden, died Aug. 5, 2003, in a plane crash near Clarkfield, Minn. Gunderson was enroute to Dawson, Minn., where he was to serve as interim minister at the Providence Valley Lutheran Church.

Memorial services were held Saturday, Aug. 9, at Immanuel Zion Lutheran Church in rural Albion. Funeral services were held Tuesday, Aug. 12, at Lac Qui Parle Lutheran Church in Dawson. Interment was in the Gonvick (Minn.) Cemetery.

Rev. Olando M. Gunderson was born April 7, 1922, and was baptized on May 15, 1922, at Buxton, S.D.

He spent part of his youth on a farm in Minnesota. Later, his family was involved in soil conservation practices that spurred him to have an active role in the National Association of Conservation Districts Soil and Water Stewardship Advisory Committee. Gunderson represented the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America on the committee.

He graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., in 1944, and from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., in 1959. He was ordained on June 28, 1959.

He served as pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Albion, Grace Lutheran Church in Petersburg, and Zion Lutheran Church, also at Petersburg. In November of 1965, he was called to serve as pastor of Lac Qui Parie Lutheran Church in Dawson, where he served for 20 years until his retirement in 1985. He continued serving interims throughout his retirement. Congregations served were the United Church of Christ in Tilden, Our Savior Lutheran Church in Spencer, Trinity Lutheran Church in Bristow, Shell Creek, Zion and Salem Lutheran Churches of Newman Grove, and an ELCA congregation in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Pastor Gunderson’s only daughter, Denise, died in infancy, and his first wife, Gwen, died in 1981. In November of 1991, he married Lorraine Gladem of Tilden. She preceded him in death in 1998.

He is survived by a brother, Mervin Gunderson, and two sisters, Delores Jasper and Alice Podzorski, all of Apache Junction, Ariz.; three stepchildren and their spouses, John and Kathy Gladem of Petersburg, Vernel and John Zwingman of Tilden and Vicki and Curt Barr of Blair; 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.