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HOMECOMING 2004THE NYDAHL FAMILY honored with the Distinguished Service Award by Lynn MenaThe Distinguished Service Award recogizes “formativefamilies” who have made a substantial and continuingcontribution to Augsburg and to its mission in the worldthrough their vocations, their philanthropy, and their citizenship.Courtesy photoThis year’s recipient is the family of Johannes and Tabitha Nydahl,honoring their Norwegian and Lutheran heritage and theirgenerations-long connection to the College. Over the years, manydescendents of Johannes and Tabitha have attended Augsburg,including their three sons, Theodore, Malvin, and Harold. TheNydahl family members, through their careers and avocations, havelong illustrated Augsburg’s mission of “education for service,” andit is a great honor to recognize them with this special award.Johannes Ludvigson Nydahl was born Feb. 20, 1863, at Sondfjord,Norway, to Ludvig Olson Nydahl and Nille Johannesen Holsen. Asthe oldest son, Johannes stood to inherit the family farm. However,he relinquished this right in order to realize his dream of exploringthe world. He considered going to South Africa or the SandwichIslands (Hawaii), but chose instead the UnitedStates, emigrating in 1882.When Johannes arrived in the United States,he first worked as a lumberjack in northernMinnesota and then as a stonemason inMinneapolis—the First Baptist Church wasone of his masonry projects. By these jobs heearned enough money to attend Augsburg.Johannes’ wife, Tabitha, was born to immigrantson a southern Minnesota farm. She was thedaughter of Torger T. Rygh, who arrived inAmerica in 1845 along with several siblings andtheir parents.Johannes NydahlJohannes graduated from both the College and the AugsburgSeminary, attending from 1883–1891. Although he was neverordained, he was deeply involved with the Lutheran community,and served as a vicar in Watertown, S.Dak., in 1891. He then servedthe College as a professor of history and Norwegian from1891–1920, before beginning in 1920 as Augsburg’s head librarian,a post he held until his death in 1928.During his years at Augsburg he also served as an instructor atDeaconess Hospital in Minneapolis from 1909–14. Among hismany community and church activities were serving as Sundayschool superintendent at Trinity Church, as president of theMinnesota Total Abstinence Society, secretary of the FolkebladetPublishing Company, treasurer and then president of the Board ofthe Deaconess Home, and secretary of the Lutheran Free Church,being listed as one of the 10 prominent men in the church’sdevelopment. An outstanding musician, too, Johannes was amember of the Augsburg Quartette, which toured throughout theJohannes and Tabitha Nydahl pose with their six children. Picturedfrom L to R are: Ragna, Tabitha, Malvin, Agnes, Harold, Theodore,Johannes, and Valborg.upper Midwest and Michigan through thelate 1880s and early 1890s. In 1895, theQuartette toured Norway, the first concerttour by Norwegians in America back to thefatherland.The Nydahls also were members of theSaga Hill community, a colony establishedin the 1880s by Augsburg professors,ministers, bankers, and professional men,most of them being members of TrinityTabitha Nydahl Church who were deeply interested in theCollege and its success. They purchased 40acres from a farmer in the Lake Minnetonka area where they builtsummer cabins.Johannes and Tabitha—who lived on the Augsburg campus formore than 30 years in what was to become known as West Hallwhen it became a girls’ dormitory—raised a family of six children.Ted became a history professor at the University of Minnesota-Mankato, and later head of their Humanities Department; Mallybecame an orthopedic surgeon in Minneapolis after a standoutathletic career in football, basketball, and baseball at the Universityof Minnesota. Harold became a pastor and counselor, and Ragna,Agnes, and Valborg all married Lutheran pastors and Augsburggraduates—Melvin Olson, Clarence Carlsen, and Torgney Kleven,respectively. All six children were great musicians, the three sisterssinging in a much sought-after trio, and the three brothers beingboth singers and choir directors.This award celebrates the contributions and legacy of Johannes andTabitha and the extended Nydahl family.10Fall 2004