Bale, John Christian 1925 - 2019

BALE, SULERUD, LEE, LIPPENCOTT

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/19/2024 at 21:00:41

U.S. Veteran
John C. Bale, age 94, of Decorah, Iowa, passed away Monday, September 2, 2019 at Barthell O.E.S. Home in Decorah.

Memorial Services will be held at 1:00 PM Thursday, September 26, 2019 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah with Pastor Amy Larson officiating. Inurnment will be in Lutheran Cemetery in Decorah.

Visitation begins at 12:00 PM Thursday, one hour before the service, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

John Christian Bale was born on April 20, 1925 in Fargo, ND, the son of Christian Emil and Hazel Sophia (Sulerud) Bale. He graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1942, and then attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, but left college to serve in the U.S. Navy from June 1944 to July 1946, reaching the rank of Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class. Resuming his education, John received his B.A. from Concordia College in English and Chemistry in 1948. He then pursued graduate degrees in English at the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL, receiving his M.A. in 1949 and his Ph.D. in 1953.

John was united in marriage to Mabel Lee on August 13, 1950 in her hometown of Wolf Point, MT. This union was blessed with one daughter, Ruth.

After graduate school, John and Mabel moved to Decorah, IA, where John taught English at Luther College from 1953 to 1990 (and part time after retirement, through most of the 1990’s) and was chairman of the English Department from 1962 to 1977. Dr. Bale was an enthusiastic and influential professor, known especially well by English majors and non-majors alike for his Shakespeare course and for his January theatre course in England. He was also a founder and one of the chief architects of Luther College’s Paideia Program, which began in the mid-1960’s (originally the Core) and continues to this day.

John’s teaching and research life reflected a special passion for Shakespeare, Milton and Renaissance literature. John was a charter member of the Renaissance Society of America and an active member of numerous other professional organizations, including the Shakespeare Association of America, the International Shakespeare Association and World Shakespeare Congress, the Modern Language Association of America, the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics, the American Association of University Professors, the National and Iowa Council of Teachers of English (he was a past president of the Iowa College Conference), and the Iowa Humanities Board.

Upon his retirement in 1990, John’s colleagues and former students presented him with a Festschrift entitled “A Humanist’s Legacy: Essays In Honor of John Christian Bale.” That same year, Luther College presented him with the Sears-Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award. In 1996, he was presented with honorary membership in Phi Beta Kappa as a tribute to his contribution to liberal arts education at Luther and in the wider community. John was still receiving thanks in 2019 from former students and colleagues for the advice and mentoring he provided during his career at Luther.

John enjoyed his retirement life in Decorah, and until he moved into Barthell O.E.S. Home in March 2018, he regularly attended events at Luther and throughout the community. He was a charter member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and remained active there. He was a chairman of the Winneshiek Jury Commission, a volunteer guide at Vesterheim Museum, and a member of the Symra Literary Society (a group dedicated to fostering Norwegian-American culture). Most of all, John felt blessed by his community of friends, delighting in the time he spent with them, whether playing Norwegian Whist or engaged in widely ranging intellectual discussions. John relished joining his friends to take in movies, music and drama events; attend lectures; and eat out, especially at meatball-lutefisk-lefse church dinners.

John loved Decorah but also loved to travel. With Mabel and often Ruth, he traveled extensively throughout North America and Europe. In addition, for most of 30 years, John took students to England for a January theatre course, and over his career had several sabbaticals in London, his favorite destination.

John and Mabel were happily married for over 57 years until her death in 2008. John cherished his time with Mabel, daughter Ruth and her husband Joe, and with extended family. He looked forward to the reminiscing, storytelling and laughter at family reunions, and there were many memorable ones, often with his brother Harold and his family. One such reunion took place in St. Louis, celebrating John’s birthday at a St. Louis Cardinals game. John referred to himself as a "life-long fan(atic)" of the team, going back to 1934.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Christian and Hazel, and his wife Mabel (January 10, 2008).

John is survived by his daughter Ruth Bale Lippincott and her husband Joe of Grand Isle, VT, and his brother Harold Bale of Eagan, MN.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the John and Mabel Bale Scholarship Fund at Luther College, c/o Development Office, 700 College Drive, Decorah, IA 52101, or to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 701 Iowa Ave., Decorah, IA 5210

Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database

Lutheran Decorah Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
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