Nils Dahlstrand's Obituary
Nils Peter Dahlstrand, 89, died on January 11, 2009 at Rosemore Village, Wild Rose, Wisconsin. He was born December 30, 1919, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the son of Hans Peter Dahlstrand and Karin Linnea (Andersson) Dahlstrand. His father was a mechanical engineer and his mother was a registered nurse. Both immigrated to this country from Sweden: Hans in 1903 and Karin in 1913. Nils received his elementary education in the Wauwatosa school system. His high school years were spent at Milwaukee Country Day School (now a part of the University School of Milwaukee). After graduation he attended Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, for three semesters, after which he dropped out. In 1943 he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and graduated with honors in 1946, receiving a BS degree in Soil Science. Nils married Lois Maud Keup at Mount Morris Holden Lutheran Church, Mount Morris, Wisconsin on August 28, 1943. He spent his entire working career with the United States Department of Agriculture, most of it with the Soil Conservation Service (SCS). He began as a soil scientist at Howell, Michigan in 1947. There he mapped the soils on farms in southeast Michigan whose owners wanted to develop soil and water conservation plans. He continued this work in northeastern Wisconsin when he moved to Sturgeon Bay. When he became a soil conservationist, he moved to Jefferson, Wisconsin and in 1957 to Rhinelander, Wisconsin as a district conservationist for Forest, Florence, Oneida and Vilas counties. In 1968 he left SCS and to become an auditor for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in San Francisco and resided in San Mateo, California. With his territory being the western United States, Alaska and Hawaii, he was constantly traveling. He was promoted in 1972 to be a supervisory auditor for OIG in Manhattan, New York and moved again to Staten Island. He commuted from Staten Island to Manhattan via bus, Staten Island Ferry and subway. On December 21, 1974 he retired from federal employment rather than move to Maryland and he and Lois returned to Mount Morris in 1975. “Retirement” for Nils included a percolation testing business where he was assisted by Lois. His dedication to conservation continued to be a major part of his life. He served on the Mount Morris Lakes Management District board as secretary and chairman. He began water quality testing of the lakes which laid the ground work for the current lake management activities. When the dam failed in 1995 during renovations, Nils saw to it that the dam was properly restored. Nils chaired the Waushara County Land Use Planning Committee and was instrumental in getting Township and County to adopt land use plans. Nils also was a writer. He served as editor of the Wisconsin Society of Ornithology publication, The Passenger Pigeon, beginning in 1962 when the magazine was two years behind its publication schedule. He was, at times, both editor and author to fill voids in the magazine content. He also researched family history. This led to trips to Scandinavia to visit relatives and to Salt Lake City and Decorah, Iowa for genealogical research. He wrote: “Hans and Karin – A Love Story” about his parents that was published in the Wisconsin Historical Society Magazine. He also wrote the “History of the Dahlstrands: Nils’ Story (2003), “The Mount Morris Dam” (2004) and “Lewis Selsing – A Norwegian Teenager in the Civil War” (2005). During his life, Nils was an active church member and was choir director at Holden Lutheran Church for many years. Survivors include one brother, Olof (Lucia) of Carmel, California: three sons, Paul (Mary Ellen div, Bella) of Newton, Massachusetts, Timothy (Cheryl) of Northbrook, Illinois and David (Mary Ann) of Cotati, California: four grandsons, Erik of Boulder, Colorado, Kurt of Stateline, Nevada, Peter (Florence) of New York, New York and John (Elisabeth) and three great grandsons, Jean-Paul, Joseph and Raphael of Little Rock, Arkansas. He is further survived by nieces, nephews and other relatives. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Lois. A memorial service will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, January 17, 2009 at Mount Morris Holden Lutheran Church. Pastors Todd Murken and Leslie Simonson will officiate. A memorial visitation will be held at the church on Saturday from 1 PM until the time of the service. The Holly Funeral Home of Wild Rose is assisting the family. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the memorial established at Mount Morris Holden Lutheran Church for perpetual support of a wild flower garden established by Nils for Lois.
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