Johann Albert Norstedt

Good bye to a special man ... you´ll always be in our hearts and minds ... farewell dear friend

I was in Johann's English class and went in to labor the morning of the final exam. Being in the early stages of labor, I decided to take the exam as scheduled. Halfway through the period, Johann investigated a clicking sound and discovered that I was timing contractions with a stopwatch. He excitedly, in the nicest way possible, said "Get out! I haven't birthed a baby up to this point in my life and I'm not going to do it today!" When he would see me through the years around town with my...

One of the kindest, most generous, funniest and wisest humans I've ever known. He helped me get through some dark times and is the reason I love Joyce. Although I was a know-it-all philosophy and political science student, he took pity on me and welcomed me to his classroom, where he cackled over passages from the Dubliners or some other work. But most times we would just meet up for a chat. He made a great case that not all wisdom is found in philosophy, and often arguments are not the...

My thoughts and prayers are with the Norstedt family. Johann was such a sweet man, and somewhere in the family archives, I still have my picture taken with him dressed as Santa at the English Department Christmas party, with my Mom holing me. I know he had a great loss when Marylin passed away, and I think it is somehow comforting that they are together again.

I worked with Marilyn as a librarian, and shared a love of cats with her and Johann. I remember his concerts in her memory at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church. My condolences. Jan