Loren Elmer Tesdell (1920-2008)

TESDELL, TONSFELDT, BURINGTON, STANLEY

Posted By: Tri-County Times
Date: 12/4/2008 at 22:04:03

THE TRI-COUNTY TIMES, Story County, Iowa, Thursday, December 4, 2008.

Loren Elmer Tesdell of Minneapolis, Minnesota, passed away on November 19, 2008. He was the son of Bernt L. Tesdell and Dora Tonsfeldt Tesdell. He was born on the family farm near Slater, Iowa on April 12, 1920, and grew up in Des Moines. He was the brother of Jeanne Burington of Carlsbad, California, and Robert Tesdell, now deceased, of New York City, New York. Loren graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa in 1937. He was married to Margaret Stanley in Oskaloosa, Iowa in 1948. Margaret passed away in 1991.

During and after World War II, Loren Tesdell participated in Civilian Public Service, worked as a recreation worker at Cleveland (Ohio) State Hospital, and helped with relief shipments to Europe at Church World Service. In 1949 he and his wife Margaret joined a Quaker United Nations team which provided humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip.

Loren graduated from the University of Iowa (1942), New York University, M.A. (1948), and Stanford University, Ph.D. (1958). Loren Tesdell's university teaching career included faculty appointments at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas; Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt; Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Tesdell retired from SMSU after twenty years on the faculty. He also was employed for several years by the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as an administrator of international programs.

Loren and Margaret's children are Lee S. Tesdell, Rebecca Tesdell, Erica Tesdell (David) Jon B. Tesdell, and Carl W. Tesdell. His grandchildren are Omar L. Tesdell (Elizabeth), Ramsey G. Tesdell, and Martin List-Tesdell.
Dr. Tesdell was a member of the Twin Cities Friends Meeting (Quaker), St. Paul, Minnesota.

Two memorial services will be held. The first one will be held at the Walker Place Chapel, 3701 Bryant Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55409, on Friday, December 5 at 10:30 a.m. The second one will be held at the Twin Cities Friends Meeting, 1725 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55105, on Saturday, December 6, 2008, from 12 noon to 1 p.m. with fellowship to follow.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19102.

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