David Norman Nordstrand

1942 - 2021

David Norman Nordstrand
March 30, 1942 – September 19, 2021
Salinas (Las Palmas)
David passed away on September 19, 2021, from dementia-related illnesses. He was born in San Francisco to Norman and Lillian Nordstrand.
Dave was a respected, award-winning journalist, who for 27 years wrote feature stories and his popular "Valley Views" column for the Salinas Californian newspaper before retiring in 2015. He loved getting to know the intriguing people and places in the Salinas Valley and spotlighting them with his excellent writing skills enhanced by a witty touch.
Among his reporting assignments was covering the invasion in Panama, tracking the Ft. Ord troops involved there. He wrote about the county's AIDs epidemic, the Loma Prieta Earthquake, as well as the visit of Pope John Paul II at Laguna Seca.
Previously he was a reporter, photojournalist, and feature writer for nearly 13 years at the Albuquerque Tribune in New Mexico, where he won numerous newspaper association and AP writing awards. He also worked for Royal Viking Line aboard the RVL Star cruise ship, writing stories and editing the passenger newspaper on worldwide cruises.
Dave held a Master's degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri, a Bachelor's degree in English and French from Wayne State College, Wayne, NE, and attended the University of Nebraska one year. He was fluent in Norwegian, having studied the language for a year at the University of Oslo. He was always proud of his Scandinavian heritage, having grandparents who immigrated to America from Norway.
In his early years, he lived in Minnesota and then Norway when his father worked in diplomatic service. He graduated from Frankfurt American High School in Frankfurt, Germany. An Army Veteran, part of the 8th Infantry, he served in the specialized ski troops in Alaska, Washington and Norway.
He was the husband of Karen Seppa Nordstrand and the loving father of Erik Nordstrand. A private family memorial will be at a later date.
In his honor, consider memorial donations to the Nordstrand Visual Arts Gallery (named after Dave's father) at Wayne State College. Online at www.wsc.edu/donate, select General Donation and "Nordstrand Gallery" in comments. Checks to Wayne State Foundation, 1111 Main St., Wayne, NE 68787.


View the online memorial for David Norman Nordstrand