Gordon Rasmussen

Gordon Eugene Rasmussen

Gordon Eugene Rasmussen was born June 10, 1922, in McIntosh, MN, the oldest son of Albert and Ida Rasmussen. His summers until the age of 12 were spent living with his Norwegian-speaking grandparents on their farm in northern Minnesota. There he developed his love of horses, his appreciation of woodworking, and his love of the land. An experience from this time in his life gives us a window into Gordon’s spiritual life and what he would later call a "Hebraic" way of being in relationship with the divine. As a small child, he watched his old grandmother stand out on the front porch in a raging thunderstorm, wave her canes at the sky, and shout back at the thunder and lightning, as if to God, "Ah, you! You are laughing at us!"

As a teenager, Gordon worked in his father’s farm implement shop. He graduated from McIntosh High School in 1940. The first member of his family to attend college, he graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN in 1944.

Gordon entered Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul to study for the ministry. Because he was struggling with his future direction and what it meant to be called to ministry, he left the seminary for a time. He married Charlotte Anderson, also a Concordia graduate, in 1946. From 1946-48, he worked in Elliot, ND as a lay preacher for three small congregations under the tutelage of Pastor J. O. Ronsberg. His experiences there pointed him, with clarity now, back to the seminary. He graduated from Luther Theological Seminary and was ordained at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in McIntosh, MN in 1951.

His first call was to a three-point parish in Minnesota: American Lutheran Church in Long Prairie, Our Savior’s in Clarissa, and Zion in Little Elk township, 1951-54. During the summers he developed a reputation as a compelling and effective teacher of high school and college students at Lutheran Bible camps throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In 1954, Gordon settled into a new parish in Jasper, MN. He had only been there a year and a half when he received an invitation to a pastoral conference at St. Olaf College. While there, unbeknownst to him, he was interviewed by members of the religion department at an informal evening conversation over coffee after one of the sessions. The resulting invitation to join the faculty of the religion department came as a total surprise and caused Gordon to question his understanding of his call and his future. With some ambivalence, he moved the family to Northfield in 1955 to begin an unforeseen career as a college professor. Feeling his lack of training as a scholar, and lacking a doctorate, he did additional study at the Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago; Union Theological Seminary in NY and Luther theological Seminary in St. Paul, MN.

While Gordon taught an introductory religon course and church history, his passion was Old Testament—his January interim class on the Psalms was most personally rewarding for him. His pastoral gifts were easily detected by students who sought him out for guidence. As a result, his office hours lengthened to meet the needs of many a troubled student. Throughout his career at St. Olaf he remained on the active clergy roster, supply-preaching throughout the southeastern synod. In 1974 he went on sabbatical to Oxford, England, to study at Mansfield College, and in 1982 spent a sabbatical year as a visiting teacher at Lutheran Theological College in Natal, Republic of South Africa. Upon return, he and Char spent many weekends traveling to area churches presenting the story of the South African seminary, and the concept and consequences of apartheid.

Though he would argue he never had any spare time, somehow he managed to find time to ride and tend his horse which was tethered in the back field behind his house on Manitou Street, completely remodel his house and construct a garage, act in a few Arts’ Guild theatre productions, and raise seven children. Anyone who knew him knew he was a consummate story teller, and a wise and transformative teacher who loved and worried over all his students. Gordon retired in 1987. He died Sunday morning, March 8, 2009 at Northfield Hospital. He was 86 years old.

Survivors include his wife, Charlotte; 2 brothers: Don (Ardyth) Rasmussen of Salem, OR, Lowell (Marion) Rasmussen of Fertile, MN, and 2 sisters: Joan Lawrence of Cedar Falls, IA and Fern Rasmussen, of Whitewater, 5 daughters: Charis (Mark) Stenberg of Pine Island, MN, Kristi Knecht (Steve Pelkey) of Kansas City, MO, Valija (Phil) Springstead of St. Paul, MN, Julie Rasmussen (John Trygstad) of St. Louis Park, MN, Rachel Rasmussen (Bob Hudson) of Champaign, IL, and 1 son: Tom Rasmussen of Omaha, NE; 5 granddaughters, 3 grandsons, 1 step-granddaughter, 8 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother, Ida, his father, Albert, his brother, John Rasmussen and his son, Daniel Rasmussen.

Funeral services will be 2:00 pm, April 3, 2009, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Northfield with Rev. Joseph Crippen officiating. Visitation at 1:00 pm.  A time of fellowship and sharing will follow in St. John’s Hall.

Memorials to the International Heifer Project, St. John’s Lutheran Church or St. Olaf College.

Arrangements are with the Benson & Langehough Funeral Home.