George Harvey Overgaard Madsen

George Harvey Overgaard Madsen, born on February 24, 1937 in Brookings South Dakota, died on October 21, 2024, in Duluth Minnesota.
George was born of two Danish immigrants, raised on the South Dakota prairie, nurtured in the Lutheran faith, and he spent his life as a pastor, a theologian, and, of course, a husband to Marge and father to Anna and Else.
To the practicals, George earned his BA in Philosophy with Honors in English at Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, in 1959.
He spent a year as a Rotary Scholar studying theology in Tübingen, Germany from 1960-61; earned his Bachelors of Divinity at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN in 1963; and completed his Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary, in New Jersey, in 1972 with a focus on the concept of God's presence in the Now found in the Gospel of John.
He was an Assistant Professor in the Religion Department at Concordia College in Moorhead MN from 1967-1974; an Associate Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Hermantown, MN, from 1974-1976; Pastor of Community and Adult Education as the Theologian in Residence at Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin from 1976-1984; the Assistant Director of the Division of Theological Education and Ministry of the American Lutheran Church (ALC), serving in the Minneapolis headquarters with the late Walter Wietzke from 1984-1987; an interim pastor at three different congregations (Mora, Ham Lake, and Rogers) in Minnesota in the nascent ELCA; and Senior Pastor at University Lutheran Church in East Lansing, Michigan, from 1989 until he retired in 2001.
During those years of service, George led students on three archaeological digs in Israel with his good friend and colleague the late Rev. Dr. Les Meyer; created and fostered Communiversity, an interfaith collaboration for religious education and inquiry, in Eau Claire; studied and served in Papua New Guinea; and was a founding editor of Lutheran Partners.
No one finding themselves with him longer than 5 minutes could escape hearing that from 2001-2004, George and Marge spent perhaps their happiest days in Martin, Slovakia, where George taught New Testament at the fledgling Martin Bible School. Initially planning on teaching for only a semester, the two of them, enraptured by the history, vision, and mission of the school, along with its leaders and the community of Martin, stayed for two years.
In 2004, an accident affecting daughter Anna's family pulled them to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where they supported her through that difficult period and beyond.
Marge died in 2013, and in 2016, Anna and her two children Karl and Else moved to Minnesota's North Shore. It wasn't too long before George followed, and there settled in Duluth, just 20 minutes from where Anna and her family lived.
He was honored to be a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, because of its commitment to justice, welcome, and a rich musical tradition.
George was nothing if not a proud and happy Dane, nothing if not a committed and evangelical Democrat, nothing if not a story teller even if ad nauseum, and nothing if not a man committed to teaching and preaching about radical grace and the freedom it offers to serve God by serving the world, all the while trusting that there is nothing, not one thing, that you can do to earn God's love: you are forgiven.
We give thanks that George lived a robust life, one which curated and spread contagious delight, knowledge, curiosity, and faith in the wondrous love of God.
George was preceded in death by his father Vagner Overgaard Madsen, his mother Kristine Olesen Madsen, his sister Esther Madsen Hanson, and his wife Marjorie Ann Stenslie Madsen.
He leaves behind two daughters: Anna (David Willis) Madsen and grandchildren Karl and Else; and Else (Jon) Madsen Goltz, and grandchildren Noah and Ben.
He also leaves behind a legacy of hearty welcome, of good and gorgeously served meals, of courageous advocacy on behalf of those who have little to no voice, of righteous preaching, and of an assurance, as the great Danish hymnist Nicolai Grundtvig sings, that "When we on that final journey go, that Christ is for us preparing, we'll gather in song, our hearts aglow, all joy of the heavens sharing, and walk in the light of God's own place, with angels His name adoring!"
His funeral will be held in Brookings, South Dakota, at First Lutheran Church on November 2, 2024 at 11:00, with burial immediately following.
Memorials may be given in his honor to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Good Gifts Program by clicking HERE, to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Duluth Minnesota by clicking HERE, or to the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz election fund by clicking HERE.