JENKINS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-03 published
Brian Alexander
MAXWELL
By Sandy JENKINS
Friday,
January 3, 2003, Page A14
Geophysicist, musician, winemaker. Born October 2, 1954, at Miminska
Lake, Ontario Died September 1, 2002, in Lagos, Nigeria, of a
heart attack, aged 47.
Brian Alexander -- Sam --
MAXWELL was half Scottish, half Aboriginal
and the greatest guy you could ever want to meet. He grew up
in the beautiful town of Sioux Lookout, Ontario When he wasn't
fishing he played bass in the popular local rock band called
Core.
In 1974 he graduated with honours from high school, to the delight
of his mother and father. Sam then moved to the University of
Manitoba, where he received his B.Sc. in 1978. His passion for
music brought him to Thunder Bay, Ontario, where he started a
band called the Geeks. They developed a cult following but never
had enough money to buy food (like his hero Neil Young and the
Squires before them). He moved back to Winnipeg to do a master's
in geophysics. When Texaco Canada was recruiting for its Calgary
office, Sam showed up for the interview in his usual garb --
jeans and a Czech hockey sweater. Texaco hired him and he moved
to Cowtown in September, 1982.
There he joined the growing Manitoba ex-pat community, and we
became roommates. At a house in St. Andrew's Heights, Sam invented
an infamous new way of playing table hockey, dubbed the "Maxwellian
Defence." He thought nothing of inviting 40 people for turkey
dinner. "No darts after 10 p.m." became his credo, which came
to mean late-night antics were deemed not to have occurred. Sam
was very quiet and low-key at work, but late-night arguments
were his forte. He never took himself too seriously, evidenced
by his trademark small smile and little laugh. Even today scientists
are divided over Sam's controversial theory that drinking Big
Rock beer negates hangovers.
We started jamming in our basement and Sam demonstrated a rare
ability to turn complete buffoons into reasonably good guitar
players. A prescient Sam insisted on taping the last performance
shortly before the band's members followed their separate paths
in 1988. These coveted bootleg tapes are known to collectors
as "The Last Jam."
Sam was a passionate fan of the Winnipeg Jets and the Blue Bombers.
He once walked out of a Bomber game at British Columbia Place
during the third quarter, he was so outraged by the team's performance.
Later, when the Big Blue won the Grey Cup in 1984, he shook coach
Cal Murphy's hand and proclaimed he would never wash it again.
Sam was in a hockey pool with brothers Ron, Gord and Friends
back in the Sioux. He was always perusing The Hockey News so
he would be prepared for that summer's draft.
Sam absolutely loved his job as a geophysicist, although never
enough to get to work on time. He did very well and Texaco rewarded
him with overseas assignments.
In 1990 he married Nee in Thailand and was transferred to China,
where they got busy raising a family. Ben (15), Angela (11) and
Daniel (8), were his proudest achievements.
In China, his seismic mapping led to a significant oil discovery.
Sam put another band together and they played regularly. He moved
to Lagos, Nigeria, in 1994 and nurtured another group of guitar
players until they were good enough to play at Bob's Bar (the
best ex-pat bar in town, he said) every Friday night.
He was a devoted son and a proud brother, visiting Sioux Lookout
regularly, most recently spending the Millennium New Year there.
Nee brought him home for good and he was buried on September
11. The Geeks played Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door at the
funeral.
He wasn't the best for keeping in touch, once saying: "I don't
worry about that; I know Jenkins will always find me."
Sandy is a friend of Sam
MAXWELL.
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JENSEN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-04 published
HUSFLOEN,
Richard
Lowell
The 12th President of Augustana University College in Camrose
Alberta, died quite suddenly on Sunday, September 28th, 2003.
He was in Sun City, Arizona at the time of his death, preparing
for back surgery. He had served as President of Augustana for
seven years before retiring this past June. He had been named
President
Emeritus by the Augustana board.
HUSFLOEN was born
on August 5, 1937 in Fargo, North Dakota, the second
son of Joe
and Clara Alfreida
(SIMONSON)
HUSFLOEN. He grew up on the Midwestern
prairies and the love of this landscape never left him. A photographer
(in recent years a hobby, though he had at one time worked professionally)
at heart he used the North Dakota prairies as a backdrop for
the film, Diane, he and a friend shot and produced in the 1960's.
HUSFLOEN's knowledge and interest in film was later used in the
production of the film, The Joy of Bach, for Lutheran Film Associates,
New York City, on whose board he sat for nine years. Richard
HUSFLOEN is survived by his brother, James C.
HUSFLOEN, of Fargo,
North
Dakota. By academic background,
HUSFLOEN was both a sociologist
and a theologian. His undergraduate degree was from Augsburg
College in Minneapolis, Minnesota (1960) where he returned to
teach sociology after finishing his graduate studies. His Master
of Divinity was earned at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota
(1963) and his Master of Theology degree from Princeton Theological
Seminary in New Jersey (1964). He had a special interest in small
town and rural communities and traveled widely in the 1960's
holding seminars on Rural Ministry for the American Lutheran
Church. President
HUSFLOEN worked his way through university
as an employee of Capital Airlines and United Airlines. He had
his own private pilot's license, honed by years of managing to
get invited into the cockpits of airliners before airline security
made that no longer possible. In recent years, his love of flying
with commercial airlines led him to circumnavigate the globe
many times as well as making hundreds of trips to Europe, Africa,
and recently Australia. This interest led him and a friend, Neil
BARDAL of Winnipeg, to establish and run a small travel business
as a sideline in the 1980's.
HUSFLOEN was ordained by the American
Lutheran Church in 1969, serving parishes that ranged in size
from Mott, North Dakota to Sherwood Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
He served as administrative assistant to the American Lutheran
Church District bishops in both Western North Dakota and South-eastern
Minnesota. He specialized in the area of stewardship, later moving
into more direct hands-on work in resource development, both
for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and later in educational
institutions: first at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
and then at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, affiliated with Wilfred
Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. In 1996, he became president
of Augustana University College in Camrose, a small college of
1000 students owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
and affiliated with the University of Alberta.
HUSFLOEN's development
skills came into play, raising money to reduce a $5,000,000 accumulated
deficit by almost half and balancing the annual budget each of
the last five years. Convinced that a small private college would
never be able to obtain the kind of funding to enable it to continue
as a top-flight school, he and the Augustana board worked to
enable the school to become part of the University of Alberta
educational system. In June of this year, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada voted to convey the college to the Government
of Alberta and the University of Alberta. The negotiations for
implementing that decision are still on-going. President
HUSFLOEN
was convinced that it was important for the college to give something
back to the community, both the community in which the college
was located as well as the communities from which its students
came: 'Knowing that our primary serving area is rural and adjacent
to our campus, it is important for us to acknowledge that we
owe something to the communities from which our students come.
For a long time schools such as Augustana have taken young people
from small rural communities and educated them for careers that
will not return them to these communities. While this has been
an endeavor of willing participants, I think it is important
for us to assume an obligation of care and concern for the communities
from which our students derive'. During his time at Augustana,
HUSFLOEN put strong emphasis on continuing education opportunities
for both graduates and members of the community. In 1999, the
college acquired the former TransAlta Utilities building in Camrose
and turned it into a Centre of Community Education as well as
space for classrooms and offices. That year the Centre opened
its first distance education program with a full house of 38
paramedic students from small towns in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The program used the internet, print curricula, electronic media
and face-to-face teaching to deliver course content.
HUSFLOEN
found great satisfaction with a Working Families Scholarship
program that was established by an anonymous donor in 1998. Working
parents could receive support for tuition and living expenses
for up to two years of study. President
HUSFLOEN was always proud
of his Norwegian heritage. He often visited with Friends and
relatives in Norway and brought important Scandinavian figures
to Augustana to enhance its Norwegian tradition. By appointment
of the Norwegian Government, President
HUSFLOEN served as a member
of the Advisory Committee of the Norwegian Research and Technology
Forum in the United States and Canada, the only member of the
committee from Canada. This past May,
HUSFLOEN was honoured with
the degree Doctor of Divinity (h.c.) by the Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In August, Augustana College
named the TransAlta building The Richard Husfloen Centre.
HUSFLOEN
was a hard worker who never walked away from a difficult situation.
He sometimes ruffled feathers but in the end most people came
to realize that his positions were always well thought through
and had the best interests of others at the core. His former
pastor, the Reverend Dr. Gordon
JENSEN, once said, 'He has often
placed himself on the margins of the church, and has called for
the church to face issues and realities that the church has often
not wanted to face. Yet, this has been one of the great gifts
he brings to the church.' The church, the educational world and
all who knew him are diminished by his death. Services to celebrate
Richard's life will be held in Camrose, Alberta on Thursday,
October 9 at 7: 30 p.m. in the Faith and Life Centre, Augustana
University College Campus and
in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Tuesday,
October 28, 7: 30 p.m., Sherwood Park Lutheran Church, 7 Tudor
Crescent at London Street. Donations in Richard's memory may
be made to Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, 55454. Friends and colleagues may send messages of
condolence or reminiscences to condolences@nbardal.mb.ca. For
updates to other services being held, please go to nbardal.mb.ca
and follow the links to Obituaries. Neil
BARDAL (204) 949-2200
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