Rev. M. E. Waldeland is the pastor of the Norwegian Lutheran church at St. Ansgar and is doing splendid work in advancing the moral interests of the community through his teaching and by his example. He was born in Gunder, Iowa, September 18, 1876, a son of Ole Waldeland, a native of Norway, who became one of the pioneer ministers of the Norwegian Lutheran church in America. His first pastorate was at Blair, Wisconsin, where he remained for three years, after which he took up a charge at Gunder, Iowa, where he remained for twenty-one years. His long connection with that church indicates the love of his people, their interest in the work and his marked fidelity in promoting the upbuilding of the organization.
He left Gunder to return to Blair, where he again remained for five years. He was then called to the position of field secretary of Jewish missions and traveled over the greater part of the United States in carrying on this work. His wife, who before her marriage was Caia Holmboe, came from Tromsų, Norway, where her father was French consul. She crossed the Atlantic in order to obtain a suitable position, and engaged in dressmaking; first, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and afterward, in Chicago, Illinois. She served for some years as a teacher in a charitable institution in Christiania, Norway, prior to coming to the new world. She is a lady of superior education and culture and her life work has been of worth.
Rev. M. E. Waldeland was educated in the public schools of Gunder, Iowa, and of Blair, Wisconsin, while later he graduated from the United Church College of Minneapolis. He also graduated from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and pursued an economic course in the Minnesota University. Rev. Waldeland specialized in Latin, sciences and mathematics at the school now known as the Minnesota College, Minneapolis, Minnesota, from which he also is a graduate. He had long since determined to devote his life to the work of the ministry and after leaving the State University of Minnesota he entered the Theological Seminary of the United church, from which, in due course of time, he was graduated. His first pastorate was at Fertile, Iowa, where he remained from 1900 until 1902, and since that date he has had charge of the Norwegian Lutheran church at St. Ansgar, Iowa.
It seems that he is following in the footsteps of his father, whose long pastorates are being duplicated by the labors of the son, who has already been at St. Ansgar for fifteen years and whose work has been most productive of good results as a factor in the moral progress of the community. For some years he was secretary of the Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota Central Luther League and later he became its president, continuing in that position until he was called to the position of secretary of the International Young People's League, in which capacity he served for several years. In 1914 he was elected president of the organization, and while acting in that capacity did much to increase its membership and further its work, but at length other duties required his resignation, that he might give his undivided time to his work in other connections. During his presidency this society gave over twenty thousand dollars to missions and charity.
In 1900 Rev. Waldeland was united in marriage to Miss Laura Eggen, of Lyle, Minnesota, a daughter of the Rev. J. M. Eggen, a prominent minister of the gospel, who for years was president of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Conference. He was likewise a well known lecturer and author, becoming prominent in the field of letters. His wife was a representative of the well known Von Rossov family of Norway. Their daughter, Mrs. Waldeland, was educated in the public schools and at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She was liberally trained in music and she also took up photographic work, becoming a retoucher in one of the large studios of Minneapolis, Minnesota. By her marriage she has become the mother of three children: Conrad, who was born in 1901; Paul, in 1906; and Olaf, in 1911.
Rev. Waldeland has been a close student of human problems affecting the child as well as the adult, and he is the author of various short stories which are of great interest to children. He has also been a contributor to several magazines and newspapers. He wields a facile pen and he has the common touch, holding the interest of his readers at all times. It would be tautological in this connection to enter into any series of statements as showing him to be a man of broad scholarly attainments, for this has been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. It is just to say, however, in a history that will descend to future generations, that he is a man of broad human sympathy and of abiding charity, whose tact enables him to understand the individual and become of assistance to him if such a one desires to make progress along intellectual or moral lines. He has been a close student of sociological questions and of many problems that are confronting the country in regard to the race, and with firm faith in the ultimate outcome of good he is continuing his labors, nor has he been denied the full harvest nor the aftermath of his efforts.
Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, 1918, Vol. II, Pages 99 & 100.
Transcribed by Gordon Felland, Sep. 2006
NOTE: M.E. Waldeland's father was Ole Waldeland, and Ole Waldeland's father was Lars Erikson Waldeland. In 1929 Dr. M.E. Waldeland was publicity director for the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.
Webization by Kermit Kittleson