1930s
Josephine “Jo” Merle Edstrom ’30 (Winona) passed away on September 10, 2013, at the age of 102. Jo attended Winona Senior High School and Winona State Teachers College. After graduation, she taught as a kindergarten teacher in Sioux City, Iowa. Jo was an active member of her church for 99 years. She was a member the Daughters of the American Revolution, Portia, Chautauqua, and Ruskin clubs, as well as a charter member of the WSU Century Club.
Hazel A. Olstad ’34 (Rushford, Minn.) passed away on October 24, 2013, at the age of 98. She taught in a one-room country school and was later involved with the lunch program at Head Start and eventually at the Rushford Public School. She leaves a legacy at WSU: family members who attended or graduated include daughters Marilyn (Worra) ’58 and Ramona (Litcher) ’60; son Dale; sons-in-law John Litcher ’64 and Vern Carlson; grandchildren Amy (Worra) Kenny, Calvin ’88, Angela (Olstad) Shepard ’89, Clark ’90, and Heath ’91; and great grandson Zachary.
Evelyn Mae Odegaard ’37 (Winona) passed away on December 6, 2013 at the age of 95. After she graduated from the Winona Teachers College, Evelyn taught at Stevenstown, Centerville, Winona Secretarial School, and the College of St. Teresa. She also worked as a private secretary and was a real estate agent for Moore, Skeels and Associates.
Jeanne E. Boller ’38 (Winona) passed away on September 23, 2013, at the age of 96. After graduating from Winona Senior High and Winona Normal Teaching School, she taught for one year She returned to Winona after living in various places for more than 10 years.
1940s
Helen Workman ’41 (Glenview, Ill.) passed away September 11, 2013 at the age of 96. She attended the University of Minnesota for two years and then taught school in Harmony, Minn. from 1939-1940. Helen returned to Winona State College in 1940 and received her bachelor’s in commercial education. Helen was very active in social and charity affairs, and served for nine years on the Des Plaines Library Board and more than 40 years on the women’s board of Lawrence Hall Youth Services in Chicago.
Mildred (Frischkorn) Artes ’44 (Muncie, Ind.) passed away on June 9, 2013 at the age of 92. After graduating from Winona State, Mildred taught kindergarten in Minnesota, Washington, Iowa, and in Muncie for many years.
1950s
George Richard “Dick” O’Reilly ’55 (Winona) passed away on September 28, 2013. Georged lettered in basketball each of his four years at Winona State, and served as team caption his senior year. After graduating, he worked as a teacher and coach for two years in Almond, Wis. before serving in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserves. He taught and coached at Claremont High School, Minnesota, from 1958 to 1961, and then worked for Watkins Products in a sales and marketing capacity from until his retirement in 1996.
Rev. Lloyd William Osborn’57 (Wilmar, Minn.) passed away on October 21, 2013. After graduating with a degree in English, Lloyd went on to Garrett Graduate School of Theology in Evanston, Ill. He became a full elder and member of the Minnesota United Methodist Conference in 1962. During his career, Lloyd served mostly rural churches of multiple point charges in the Northeast, Northwest, Central, and Southeast Districts of Minnesota. Lloyd was a continuous member of the American Legion for more than 50 years, where he served terms as state chaplain, local chaplain, and commander.
Judy (Haga) Eidem ’59 passed away at the age of 76.
1960s
James R. Erickson ’61 (Winona) passed away on August 5, 2013.
Alvin R. Mueller ’63 (Huron, S.D.) passed away on December 13, 2013. After earing his degree in business from Winona State, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. Al worked as a manager for various retail stores in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and was most recently employed with the South Dakota Department of Transportation prior to his retirement.
Ruby MacLean Swenson ’63 (Houston, Minn.) passed away on October 16, 2013, at the age of 97. After training at Winona State College, she taught rural schools in Swede Bottom and Riceford, Minn. After completing more education, she went to Aruba, teaching children of employees of Exxon Mobil. Ruby’s career totaled of 38 years of teaching.
Karen Grimm ’65 (Madison, Wis.) passed away on November 27, 2013. After earning her physical education degree, she taught and coached for 34 years before retiring in 1999. Karen enjoyed being with family and friends, playing golf, snowmobiling, jet skiing, fishing, singing and spending time with her dog.
Robert Stirn ’65 (Spring Hill, Fla.) passed away on November 30, 2013. He graduated with degrees in business administration and sociology.
1970s
Genevieve Marie (Klinkhammer) Molling ’71 (Caledonia, Minn.) passed away on October 30, 2013. She received her teacher’s certificate from Presentation College in Mitchel, S.D. and a BS from Winona State. After graduating, she taught school in South Dakota for five years before coming to Minnesota where she taught for many years at the Caledonia Public School and at St. Mary’s Elementary School.
Robert V. Rydman ’78 (Winona) passed away on November. 18, 2013. After earning his degree in chemistry, Robert was employed with Medicalibration. He enjoyed motorcycles, trains, and playing his guitar.
1980s
Wilburn “Tommy” Speed ’81 (Columbia, Tenn.) passed away on December 20, 2013. Tommy held a pilot’s license through the Federal Aviation Administration and a bachelor’s from Winona State. Tommy was chief pilot for Northern Engraving Corp in La Crosse, Wisconsin until his retirement in 1992. After retirement, he instructed pilots for Gulfstream and Citation aircraft recertification in Dallas, Texas.
Joyce M. Lebakken, ’82 (Galesville, Wis.) passed away on December 8, 2013. She received her degree in nursing from Winona State. Joyce played trumpet with the Galesville and Faribault City Bands and WSU Symphony Band.
1990s
Sandra Kay (Wicka) Evanson ’95 (Minnesota City, Minn.) passed away on November 30, 2013. Before graduating from Winona State, she completed a summer session on scholarship as well as her freshmen year of college at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. She later attended the University of Minnesota before graduating from Winona State University as a non-traditional student with a degree in business administration. Sandy’s professional career involved bookkeeping and administrative support for various local businesses and she served as clerk for the Rollingstone Township.
2000s
Mark Thomas Lorisch ’01 (Winona) passed away on October 19, 2013. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications. While at WSU, Mark met Lisa (Walczak) ’00, who he would later marry. Mark was passionate about golf, the Green Bay Packers, and enjoying the bluff country of Winona.
Current Students
Marie Ellen “Ellie” Ahmann ’14 (Woodbury, Minn.) died December 31, 2013 in an automobile accident. Ellie joined the WSU community in fall 2010 and was finance major.
Caroline Bakalyar ’15 (Jordan, Minn.) passed away on December 19, 2013. She was studying math education at WSU.
Faculty, Staff, Friends
James R. Erickson (Winona) died August 5, 2013, at the age of 74.
M.J. “Mac” McCauley (Winona) passed away on December 8, 2013 at the age of 90. His long teaching career included 22 years, from 1964 to 1986, as a physics professor at Winona State. He was active in local and state politics, holding offices of clerk of court in Houston County, state representative in Winona District 34B, and Winona County Commissioner.
Robert W. Meinhard (Winona) passed away on August 26, 2013 at the age of 94. Prior to joining Winona State, Robert graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and education from Buena Vista College, a master’s degree from the University of Iowa, and a doctorate from Montana State University. He retired as a professor of history at Winona State University. Special honors throughout his lifetime include the prestigious Dr. Frank Vandiver Award for distinguished service to Civil War history.
Jerry R. Witt (Winona) passed away on September 28, 2013. He taught chemistry for 37 years at WSU, mostly inorganic and physical chemistry. Jerry also worked at 3M, Battelle Memorial Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was a 52-year member of the American Chemical Society and a longtime member of Wordos, a club of mostly retired newspaper editors in Minneapolis. He is remembered by two scholarships in his name: a chemistry scholarship at WSU and the Jerry R. Witt Scholarship in the Natural Sciences at Marshfield High School.
