STRAND, Dr. Carl B. 1903-2000

AAKRE, STRAND, WRIGHT, DANIELSON, WANGSNESS

Posted By: IAGenWeb Volunteer
Date: 9/1/2010 at 13:24:58

Decorah Public Opinion, Tuesday, January 18, 2000

Dr. Carl B. Strand

Dr. Carl B. Strand, 96, of Eureka, Calif., died of a sudden illness at his home Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2000.

Funeral services were held Monday, Jan. 17, at 2 p.m., at the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church, with the Rev. Kim Smith officiating.

Paul Bruvold was the organist. The congregation sang "Softly and Tenderly," "Beautiful Savior" and "Oh, Happy Day When We Shall Stand."

Casket bearers were Vernon Wright, Calvin Wright, Charles Davidson, Howard Wangsness, Ken Wangsness and John Wangsness.

Honorary bearers were Ken, John, Mark, Timothy and Paul Strand.

Burial was at the Washington Prairie Cemetery, rural Decorah. The Fjelstul Funeral Home handled arrangements.

Carl was born March 1, 1903, at Nordness, the son of Ole K. and Ingeborg (Aakre) Strand. Nordness was the first stop of the Rock Island Railway south of Decorah.

He completed eighth grade at the school located in Nordness. Two years later he entered Valders Business College in Decorah, completing the course in bookkeeping. Then, in 1922, after the death of Professor Whalen, Mr. Valder asked Carl to complete the semester by supervising the bookkeeping students in what was then called the commercial department. The college was closed at the end of that school year.

During the summer of 1922 Carl attended a summer session at the Upper Iowa University in Fayette. After that, he took the tests for qualifying to teach in the county rural schools, which he did for two years.

His next education move was to enroll at the Iowa State Teachers College at Cedar Falls, from which he first earned a diploma in commercial education. That qualified him to teach in high schools in Iowa.

After additional summer sessions at the Teachers College, he was granted a bachelor of science degree. Having taught at the high school in Clarksville until 1935, when he transferred to the School of Business of the Billings Polytechnic Institute in Billings, Mont., where he remained until he was drafted into military service in 1942.

In the service, Carl was assigned to the United States Army Clerical Training Center at Fort Logan, Colo., where he taught military correspondence and typewriting for about two years. Fort Logan was then converted to a rehabilitation center, so he began teaching personal psychology to returnees.

Prior to being drafted, Carl had completed writing a textbook on salesmanship, which was published by McGraw-Hill Book Co. in 1942.

After being discharged in 1945, he enrolled at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and received the master of arts degree in 1946. Carl began working toward his Doctor of Philosophy degree.

At that time, veterans were enrolling at the university In large numbers. The university was short of professors, so the Ph.D. candidates were pressed into teaching positions, thus delaying their progress toward the degree.

Carl was teaching Introduction to Business and Salesmanshlp either on a full- or part time basis, as well as revising his salesmanship textbook, the second edition of which was unfinished in 1949.

He completed the requirements for the Ph.D. at the end of the first semester, 1950-51. He then arranged with the University Placement Bureau to find a teaching position with the stipulation that he would consider only the state of California as a location.

So Carl received a contract from Humboldt State College, which became Humboldt State University. He remained there until retiring in 1972.

Since he was never required to teach summer sessions, Carl kept returning to his summer place at a lake in Northern Minnesota and visiting relatives in Iowa. He made his 47th annual trip in 1998, which also was the 50th from the Pacific Coast, since he had made three trips before he moved there. Carl traveled once to the San Francisco World's Fair, one summer session at the University of California at Berkeley, and finally driving a nephew back to his job in Long Beach from Decorah.

He never married. He was a lifelong member of the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church.

Survivors include one brother, Alvin Strand of Mesa, Ariz.; one sister, Lettie Wright of Decorah; and several nieces and nephews.

Carl Strand was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Orlando and Arnold; and three sisters, Clara, in infancy, Ida Danielson and Johanna Wangsness.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.