Dr. C. Clifford Madsen, 82

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 25 at First Lutheran Church in Blair for Dr. C. Clifford Madsen, 82 who died January 21, 1991 at Memorial Community Hospital in Blair following a period of failing health. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, January 24 at Campbell-Aman Funeral Home.

Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday, January 23.

Rev. James McBride will officiate. Burial will be in the Blair Cemetery.

C. Clifford Madsen was born February 13, 1908 in Luck, Wisconsin. He received his early education in Luck and came to Dana College as a student in 1927.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1931; a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Trinity Seminary in Blair in 1934; and a Doctor of Theology degree from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City in 1949. He did additional graduate study at Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois.

He married Esther Johnson of Plainview, Nebraska in June, 1934.

He was ordained into the ministry of the former United Evangelical Lutheran Church and served as pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Kansas City from 1934-1942 when he became a chaplain in the United States Navy, servicing until 1946. His wartime service was in the United States Marine Corps in the southwest Pacific and in southern California.

He was active as a Naval Reserve officer, ashore and afloat until his retirement with the rank of captain.

In 1946 he was named to the faculty at Dana College and Trinity Seminary where he taught Christianity and Practical Theology and served as chairman of Dana’s Christianity Department.

He was elected the 11th president of Dana College in 1956 and served in that position until his retirement in 1971. During his sixteen year tenure as president, Dana College received full accreditation by the North Central Association, experienced its highest enrollment in history and completed an ambitious program of campus expansion which saw ten buildings and more than 100 acres added to the physical campus.

Among the numerous honors accorded him were the Cross of the Knight Order of Dannebrog by King Frederik IX of Denmark, an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by Midland College in Fremont and the distinction of being named the first and only president emeritus by the Dana College Board of Regents.

In 1986, he and Mrs. Madsen were recognized for their lifetime of service to the church and Dana College when the Madsen Fine Arts Center on the Dana campus was named in their honor.

He is survived by his wife, Esther; a daughter and son-in-law, Carole and Raymond Dickson of Blair; a son and daughter-in-law, Lowell and Sue Madsen of Fresno, California; one grandson, Scott Madsen; one granddaughter, Stacey Madsen; two brothers, Lowell Madsen of Luck, Wisconsin and Lester Madsen of Grantsburg, Wisconsin; two sisters, Violet Hansen of Dresser, Wisconsin and Laura Sumpter of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and several nieces and nephews.

Campbell-Aman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements for the services.