Rev. Magnus Lutness

Magnus Lutness, 87, Bismarck, died January 28, 2008 at Medcenter One Hospital, Bismarck. Services will be held at 10:30 am Thursday at Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck with Rev. Steve Sathre officiating. Burial will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held Wednesday from 5:00 - 8:00 PM at Eastgate Funeral Service and will continue Thursday one hour prior to the service at the church. Magnus Philip Lutness was born on January 7, 1921, to Otto John and Galine Lee Lutness in Perley, MN. Shortly after his birth, they moved to Enderlin, ND. There Mag grew-up as a Preacher's Kid, one of eight children. This was depression time, but they never went hungry: in fact, their table was often accented by friends joining them. Mag's first job was age 12 when he spent the summer working on a farm, the first of several such summers. He learned the value of hard work, a lesson that followed him his whole life. God touched him and chose him to serve Him. After High School, Mag went to Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, arriving two weeks early to get in shape with the Concordia football team. Throughout his college career he was football co-captain, Who's Who in Colleges, president of the freshman class, president of the senior class, student body president, was enrolled in the V7 program, held down jobs, preached at his home church in Enderlin, and fell in love. He and Viona Carlson got engaged the night of their senior banquet. Because he was entering seminary, he was exempt from the draft during World War II but felt deeply that he could not serve people if he didn't serve his country first, so he enlisted in the United States Navy. After graduating Midshipman's School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and receiving his commission as a naval officer, he received further training in amphibious operations at Solomon's Island, MD. When he got orders to "move out", he called his fiancee Viona Carlson at her teaching job in Elbow Lake, MN, proposing marriage. She took the train to Washington, D.C. where they were married on February 15, 1944. In the service he spent time on LST 174 in North Africa, Italy and Southern France. After VE Day he was stateside briefly, then assigned to the Pacific Theater as a deck officer on a minesweeper in the Sea of Japan. Upon the end of the war he returned to the US and joined his wife Vi in San Franciso. He arrived the day of the grand celebration of the forming of the United Nations and viewed the parade where Winston Churchill was Grand Marshall. He and Vi then moved to St. Paul, MN, where he entered the Luther Theological Seminary. He graduated in 1949 and accepted his first call to Hettinger Lutheran Church in Hettinger, ND. The Community Church in Lodgepole, SD, was without a paster and he volunteered to serve them every other Sunday afternoon. In Hettinger he was part of the building of a new church. In fact, he was given the honor to physically lay brick, and was one of a team that attached the steeple to the building. He had a special rapport with the teens of the community because he helped as coach for the High School football team. Pastor Lutness and Vi often listened to the Trinity Lutheran Church Sunday morning broadcast from Bismarck, ND. One Sunday they heard Pastor Rindahl was resigning and commented: "I wonder who they'll get to follow him." Soon Mag got a call to be that man, so after five years at Hettinger and Lodgepole churches, he moved his family to Bismarck in 1954. He continued service to this country in the National Guard. In fact, Governor Brunsdale called him one day and asked him to consider being Chaplain of the North Dakota National Guard, and the next day sent a helicopter to pick him up for induction. As a pastor, Mag was active in church and community and state. He was Chaplain of the American Legion, International Chaplain for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, member of the National Safety Council, serving as chairman of the religious leaders of such, Captain and Chaplain in the North Dakota National Guard, on the founding board for the Garrison Bible Camp now Camp of the Cross, member of Kiwanis, and served on the Board of Mental Health for Lutheran Social Services in North Dakota. In 1961, his guard unit, the 164th Engineer Group, was called up during the Berlin Crisis, moving to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, with their families for a year. There, Mag served as Chaplain of Chapel Seven. Upon return to Bismarck he resumed his pastoral duties at Trinity Lutheran Church. He was always busy but never too busy to be a Shepherd to his flock and to counsel and befriend individuals. Every person was special to him. In 1967, the American Lutheran Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Missouri Lutheran Church formed a governing body, The Lutheran Church in America LUCUSA. President Frederick Schotz, of the ALC, requested Lutness as the ALC representative for the church and military. After discussion with his wife and friends, and prayerful consideration, Mag felt called by the Holy Spirit and accepted this new job as Assistant Director of Service to Military Personnel. It meant a move to Washington, D.C. His background in military, his community service, and his Christian service as Pastor had prepared him to travel the world assuring that our United States Lutheran military personnel stationed throughout the world had a church base in the area where they were stationed. Mag became Director of the Division in 1977 and served beyond retirement age until the Lutheran churched formed a new merger. He circled the globe three times in his duties as Chaplain to the Chaplains, and preached in numerous countries. Upon retirement, after 21 years in Washington, D.C., Mag and Vi returned to Bismarck and immediately became "re-activated" in church and community. They joined Trinity, the church he'd led for 12 ½ years. They joined in community events. They renewed friendships. Mag had a heart for the rural parish and the heartfelt belief that they must survive. He took this retirement time to serve North Dakota parishes. Officially he was interim Pastor at the two-point parish of Almont Lutheran Church and Sims Lutheran Church, and the interim pastor of First Lutheran Church in Washburn and of Rugby Lutheran Church. Additionally, he preached in numerous North Dakota churches when requested. He became a moving force for Bismarck's Pioneer Village and helped arrange the move of the country church, Bethel Lutheran, to Buckstop Junction, where he had the honor to perform the first wedding held there. Mag never stopped learning and seeking God's direction. He was a desired speaker for many organizations, including Kiwanis International, "Old Men's" breakfast, VFW, Battle of the Bulge reunions, Ladies Lutheran events, American Legion, Veteran's Memorial services, weddings, funerals, eulogies and numerous other occasions. During one week, he spoke at the funerals of his last two siblings-a sister in Decorah, IA, and another sister in Watertown, SD. A humble man, he gave credit for his accomplishments in life to his God and to the support of his wife, whom he considered to be his "co-minister." He is survived by his wife of 63 years, three children and their spouses, five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by parents, siblings, Grandson John and numerous friends around the world. God bless his memory.

Rev. Magnus Lutness

January 7, 1921 - January 28, 2008