Rev. Flugstad

Rev. Luther M. Flugstad, 83, of Adair, Iowa, (and formerly of Palmyra, NE) died Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at his home in Adair.

Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, April 12, 2010, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Adair, with the Rev. Ray Holmquist officiating. Visitation with family present will be Sunday, April 11, 2010, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Hockenberry Funeral Home in Adair, Iowa. Burial will take place Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 3:00 p.m., in Our Savior's Lutheran Cemetery in Westby, Wisconsin.


Luther Merland Flugstad was born May 28, 1926, in Vernon County, Wisconsin, to Peter J. and Caroline (Olson) Flugstad. He attended country school through eighth grade and graduated from Westby High School in 1944. He farmed with his father for six years after high school before accepting God's call to become a pastor and missionary.


Luther graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD with a degree in sociology. While in Sioux Falls, he met Marian Smith of Brookings, SD. The couple married May 20, 1956, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, while Marian worked as a nurse. Luther graduated in 1958.


Luther and Marian accepted the call to become missionaries to Cameroon, a country in west Africa. They spent one year in Paris, France, learning French at the Alliance Francaise. They spent 10 years in the mission field from 1959-1969. In 1969 Luther and Marian returned to the United States with their three children, David, Kathryn and Peter, where Luther became a parish pastor in Iowa. He served as a pastor in the following Iowa communities: Woden, Kelley, Moorhead, Ottosen-Rutland, Graettinger and Adair. During retirement they spent 2 1/2 more years in Cameroon volunteering at an English-speaking church. The couple retired in Palmyra, Nebraska. Following Marian's death in 2007, Luther moved back to Adair, Iowa, in 2009.


Luther was fluent in several languages including English, Norwegian, French and Fulani (an African dialect). He lived what he believed and enjoyed, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. He also enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, traveling, gardening and fixing things.


He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, his daughter Jean Marian, his brother Kenneth, and his sister Esther Bakke. He is survived by three children, David and Debra Flugstad of Las Vegas, Nevada, Kathryn Schindler of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Peter and Annette Flugstad of Marion, Iowa; six grandchildren, Jessica, Steven, Michael, Matthew, Kate and Erin; a brother-in-law and his wife, Robert C. and Josephine Smith of Woodland Hills, California; a sister-in-law Marilyn Smith, of Colorado; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Hockenberry Family Care of Adair, Iowa is in charge of the arrangements.