Rev. Clifton Luther BRULAND

BRULAND, ALDEN, KOCH, SNYDER, KORN, HOVEY, SPAULDING

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/10/2010 at 12:01:27

April 24, 2004
Mason City Globe Gazette - Iowa

August 10, 1917 -- April 22, 2004

MASON CITY, IA -- The Rev. Clifton Luther Bruland, 86, of Good Shepherd Health Center in Mason City, died Thursday (April 22, 2004) at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Visitation will be from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St. N.E. in Mason City. Funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Mason City, with the Rev. Jim Magelssen officiating. A private family burial service, with military honors by the Mason City Veterans Memorial Association, will take place Tuesday at the West Fork Cemetery in rural Sheffield. The family of the Rev. Clifton Luther Bruland has requested that memorial contributions be made to the Waldorf College Scholarship Fund, or to the Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City, in his memory.

Cliff was born Aug. 10, 1917, in Velva, N.D., the second of four children. His family moved to Portland, Ore., in 1926, where his parents, the Rev. Peter O. and Flora Bruland, modeled a life of service and ministry. Peter and Flora established Lutheran Welfare, which later evolved into Lutheran Social Services. Cliff graduated from Luther College in 1941, attended Luther Seminary in Minneapolis, and was ordained a pastor in the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America in 1945. He earned his STM (Masters in Sacred Theology) at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Mo. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard and as a chaplain in the Navy during World War II. Recalled during the Korean conflict, he was the first chaplain assigned to an LST since World War II, visiting up to 12 ships a day. During the two years Cliff served as Veterans' Counselor at Waldorf College, he married Marjorie Hovey from Badger, Iowa, on Dec. 29, 1948. They were partners in ministry for over 50 years. Cliff returned to the faculty of Waldorf College, teaching Bible from 1963-1973.

His parish ministry included congregations in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Ridgeway and rural Calamus in Iowa. Cliff also served southern California churches in North Hollywood and Pasadena from 1973-1982. Cliff and Marj enjoyed a retirement year in 1982, traveling to Japan, China, and Hawaii, then returning to Iowa to be near family. Cliff concluded his many years of ministry, serving as Dean of Religious Life at Waldorf College from 1983-87, various interim ministries in north Iowa, Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Corwith from 1988-92, and Visitation Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City.

Cliff described his life as a "patchwork of miracles." He was a man of deep faith and prayer who dedicated himself to service and the preaching and teaching of God's word. In thanksgiving and celebration of his 50th Anniversary of Ordination, Cliff established a student scholarship fund at Waldorf College in Forest City. The family asks that memorials be directed to the Waldorf College Bruland Scholarship or to Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City.

Cliff was preceded in death by his parents; brother, the Rev. Osborne Bruland of Portland, Ore.; sister, Fern Spaulding of Hood River, Ore.; and an infant grandson, Roger Alden of Dougherty. He is survived by wife, Marj; daughters, Kathryn (and David) Alden of Dougherty, Martha (and Jerry) Koch of Sheffield, Ruth Bruland and our good friend Ticia Snyder of San Diego, Calif.; sister, Ruth (and Larry) Korn of Green Valley, Ariz.; many nieces and nephews, and an extensive family of cherished friends. Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel.