Dan Seim

Salt Lake City, Utah

Back in 1967 . . .
Dan

June, 1965, was the time for graduation from CTC for yours truly. The call to Ebenezer, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was accepted and after marriage the work began here. The duties include being principal of a two-room school, Sunday School superintendent, Walther League counselor, secretary of the congregation, etc. The school had been in a sad state of affairs for quite some time so a rebuilding job was the main task. But all in all the work is challenging and enjoyable.

This past summer was spent accumulating 15 hours of graduate credit at CTC and the course work toward the degree should be completed after this next summer. Administration is the chief interest for the future, although the field of educational media looks very interesting.

In 2010. . .

Cornelius, Oregon

After attending a Lutheran elementary school in Salt Lake City, I jumped into the public system for grade 9. It was a rude awakening to the real world. So I convinced my parents that I could handle being away from home and attending Concordia High School, Seward. Today I tell them that “they sent me away from Utah so I wouldn’t fall in love with a Mormon.” Instead, I ended up falling in love with the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. What a deal!

I came to Concordia and was assigned to live with 5 other sophomores in the only basement room in Miessler Hall. What a crew that was! Their names were Ostermann, Kapperman, Endorf, Schade, Felten and Seim. I was homesick for the first six weeks, but after that I had been assimilated into a routine and made part of a new family. Somewhat dysfunctional at times, but a family nevertheless. Dave Felten helped me with choosing clothes. He even loaned Danme some of his. Ostermann and Kapperman brought me up to speed on barnyard lingo. Ed Schade knew all kinds of one-liners and Dennis Endorf was a quiet friend who at times seemed about as homesick as I was.

I became good friends with others in the class and I remember my first date with a classmate named Mona Heerman. It was probably the usual Seward date - walking down to the Rivoli and over to Dale’s afterwards. There would be many more just like it.

In a short two years I was a big Senior and in the first week of school met a new member of the class, Sandi Rhode. She was tall, tanned and unclaimed but just barely. Tom Sass and I had a little contest going for a while but I finally won out. We dated and dated and dated and five years later were married by her dad in Boulder, Colorado.

Just before the Call Service, I was invited to Dr. Kirch’s office and asked whether I would be open to being called to serve as a principal. I said, “Sure,” or something like that, and on Call Night I learned I was to be principal at Ebenezer Lutheran School, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I was hooked on administration from there on. I also got my first taste of a school association and have experienced that ministry several times since.

I went to Denver next as principal of Christ-University Hills Lutheran School. We had two campuses and it was a unique experience. Jon Scott (Fox News) was in that school for 6th-8th grade and I was his principal and science teacher. During that time I served for two years as principal of two schools at the same time. Another unique experience.

From Denver we went to Dallas. Sorry, Larry, but Texas is a whole different culture and I felt like a duck out of water. I was the founding principal of Lutheran High School of Dallas and stayed for two years. Fortunately for them, the next guy had a great background in high school administration which is just what I didn’t have.

We went to Eugene, Oregon next and my task was starting a LutheranDan & Lisa elementary school. There were four congregations partnering in this ministry. They had a strong desire for a school but very little money. I remember participating in a jog-a-thon to raise funds for the school on the day that Mt. St. Helens blew its top.

After seven years we moved to Bellevue, Washington for a year and then on to Hawaii for seven more years. In my last year there, I served for six months with the Curriculum Research and Development Group at the University of Hawaii. It was another unique experience for which I’m thankful.

Dan, DannyIn 1990 we returned to Oregon and in 1993, Sandi was diagnosed with cancer. The next year is kind of a blur with appointments, hospital visits and finally hospice care at home. Danny was a junior in high school and Lisa quit her job in Hawaii to return home and help care for her mother. At the same time, I was going to weekly meetings to help establish a daughter school for Pilgrim. Sandi passed away in May, 1994, and in June of that year we announced plans for the opening of Forest Hills Lutheran School in Cornelius, Oregon. Again I served as principal of two school at the same time for three years.

During the nine years after Sandi died I busied myself with organizing and administering a new school. We had buildings, a campus, lots of remodeling, the building of a gym and a growing student body. I didn’t have much of a life at home so I immersed myself in my job.

In 2001 I checked out the old AAL website called “Singles Mingle.” I Dan, Sandraconnected by email with a fellow widow from Alaska. She lost her husband to cancer in 1999. Eventually Sandra Gadbury and I met in Seattle and fell in love. We were married in 2002 and following my retirement in 2005 we lived in her home in North Pole, Alaska for a year. We then moved back to my house in Oregon and we’ve enjoyed lots of common interests ever since. God was and is good to both of us.

Daughter Lisa still lives in Hawaii and is the proud mother of my two grandchildren, Alena and Issac. Lisa sells cool women’s clothing from her eBay store. She has retired on medical disability from her position as a school counselor.

Our son Danny lives in Portland and is a struggling (starving sometimes) musician with a band called Menomena. He’s the drummer. They have quite a following and have been on several U.S. and European tours. Some of us thought that at 6’8” he would play basketball for a while longer, but he took to art and music instead. Buy his band’s CD’s and you’ll help his career.

So what about retirement?  I've found a number of pursuits to keep me out of trouble.  I'm the property manager at my old school and do their website.  I'm doing a number of pro-bono websites for various churches and schools.  You can see some of them at these links:

I’ve enjoyed being on the front lines of connecting our high school class and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our 2011 reunion. Hopefully this website will keep our connections going.

God’s blessings to each of you,

Dan