James Matthew Kittelson

Kittelson James Matthew Kittelson, October 4, 1941 - November 10, 2003. After graduation from Saint Olaf College in 1963, Jim earned a Ph.D. in History from Stanford University. He taught at the University of Iowa for 4 years, and was professor of Reformation History at the Ohio State University for 26 years. Since 1997, he was Professor of Church History at Luther Seminary, where he was also the director of the Reformation Research Program. In addition to more than 50 scholarly publications and three books, he was the senior editor of The Encyclopedia of the Reformation. His popular book Luther the Reformer has been translated into Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Finnish and Estonian. He served on the board of editors for Studies in the Reformation and the Lutheran Quarterly, was on the Board of Directors of the Center for Reformation Research, and was on the Executive Committee of the Newbury Library Renaissance Center and the Society for Reformation Research. He was recently elected Honorary President of the Fellowship of Confessing Lutheran Churches. Professor Kittelson was passionate about the field of Reformation studies and about his students. His graduate students at Luther Seminary were, for him, the crown of his career. Jim was the husband of Margaret Kittelson, on August 3, they celebrated 40 years of marriage. He was the father of Elizabeth Van Voorhis (Stephen) of Las Vegas, and Amy Kittelstrom (David) of Boston. He was the grandfather of Katherine Van Voorhis and Traeger Kittelstrom. He was the son of Berta (deceased) and Lee M. Kittelson of Beresford, S.D., and the brother of R. Peder Kittelson of Omaha, NE. He was the son-in-law of Florence and Marvin Formo of Edina, and the brother-in-law of John Formo of Minneapolis, and of Kristin & John Joseph of Eden Prairie. Services were Saturday, November 15th. Memorials preferred to James Kittelson Memorial Scholarship Fund at Luther Seminary. Waas Home for Funerals 605-763-2232 Luther Seminary 651-641-3456