1950s
1957
Stanley Baker ’57 retired as a professor emeritus of counselor education at North Carolina State University in July 2024. He served as a counselor educator for 50 years at NC State and Penn State universities. He also served as a high school history teacher, school counselor, and athletic coach at high schools in Wisconsin for 12 years.
1960s
1965
Joyce (Anderson) Pfaff ’65 reunited with classmates at the 2024 Advent Vespers (photo right). “We were seniors at Augsburg 60 years ago,” she said. “Now we are simply seniors. Loved seeing so many of my former classmates at Vespers last week.”
1967
Thad Danielson ’67 lost his companion of 54 years in April 2024. As a carpenter, he worked with her to build a house of their own design. After retirement, he taught boat building at WoodenBoat School and wrote a book based on his course, “An Introduction to Wooden Boat Building: Always More to Learn,” which is available on Amazon. In 2023, he gave a talk on his boat-building experience at the Conway Historical Society. He is now painting and working as a personal care assistant.
1970s
1972
Mike Eayrs ’72 was featured on October 30, 2024, in The Athletic story, “Meet the former Vikings and Packers visionary known as the grandfather of NFL analytics.”
Tom Fischer ’72, now in his 52nd year as a high school athletic official, received the Minnesota State High School League Officials Distinguished Service Award on March 23, 2024. The award recognizes individuals who go above and beyond in service to their fellow officials. In June 2023, he was awarded the Lifetime Service Award by the Northwest Suburban Conference in recognition of his service to high school student-athletes, parents, and coaches.
1974
Nancy Sandro ’74 composed 22 songs for “Tunes and Texts: Songs for the Liturgical Seasons,” available at lulu.com. The book includes 18 original songs for the liturgical seasons and four festival songs, many of which have optional instrumental accompaniments and guitar chords.
1980s
1981
John Strommen ’81 is the author of “GPS: Finding Direction on Your Faith and Life Journey—How Luther’s Theology Connects Faith to Life.” Strommen wrote the book to bring the heart of Luther’s theological witness directly into conversation with 21st-century Christians hungering to not only have faith, but to live their faith.
1990s
1992
Sven Erlandson ’92, soul counselor and corporate counselor, is the author of “There’s a Hole in My Love Cup,” which has been in the top five Amazon bestsellers for inner child healing. His podcast, “The Badass Counseling Show,” has over two million downloads. Erlandson has amassed more than 2.1 million followers on TikTok and 500,000 followers on Facebook.
1993
Doris Rubenstein ’93 MA was contracted by VEAP, Minnesota’s largest food shelf, to write the history of the organization for its 50th anniversary, “VEAP at Fifty: Celebrating a Half-Century of Helping the Community.” This is the fourth institutional history book Rubenstein has written.
2000s
2008
Joseph Skogmo ’08 is the lead pastor at First Lutheran Church in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Previously, Skogmo served as the pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Lowry, Minnesota.
2009
Amanda Symes ’09, ’15 MFA is the author of “Sasquatch Is My Neighbor: A Collection of Hairy Cryptid Lore.” The book contains nine tales and is available on Amazon.
2010s
2013
Melissa Brandenburg ’13 received her Master of Education in Special Education from Northwestern College (Orange City, Iowa) in May. She finished with a 4.0 GPA and was selected as the graduate studies speaker at commencement.
2019
The environmental legal drama “Big Lake Troubles,” by Jeffrey Boldt ’19 MFA, was named “one of the best legal thrillers of the year [2024]” in a Kirkus Starred Review. The book is his second novel.
2020s
2024
Claire Jenkins Coffman ’24 was a guest coach for the Minnesota Wild Development Camp this summer and is believed to be the first woman to have held that role. She now works as an assistant and skills coach for the New Hampshire Mountain Kings.