Robert Tosdal Lund

Robert (Bob) Tosdal Lund, age 101, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on January 14, 2026. Bob grew up in Thief River Falls, MN, where his father sold insurance and was a respected community leader, including a term as president of the board of the Minnesota State Fair. Bob is preceded in death by his devoted wife of 75 years, Marilyn (Spoehr) Lund, his father Robert Joseph Lund and mother (Edith) Luella (Tosdal) Lund, and his two sisters Dr. Lois A Lund and Louella Lund Hanson Gottlieb. Bob is survived by his children Betsy (David) Zahniser, Kathy (Eric) Lund-Wilde and Eric (Sue) Lund, grandchildren Russell (Megan) Zahniser, Michael (Christina Tinglof) Zahniser, Anne (Robert) Umberger, Joshua (Kristin Borrero) Wilde, Jocelyn (Andrew) Fiore, Sarah (Tom Brezniak) Lund, and Jeremy Lund, and seven great-grandchildren: James, Luke, John, Evan, Benjamin, Callum, and Oliver.

A private family burial will be held on January 22, 2026. Family and friends will be invited to a memorial service to be held later. A shiva ceremony will be observed at Mount Zion Temple in St Paul, MN on Monday January 26, 2026.

In lieu of flowers please consider a memorial donation to the Thief River Falls Education Foundation: trfeducationfoundation.com.

Bob Lund was a man of valuable accomplishments and intense interests, all of which he pursued with unassuming passion and subtle humor. His commitment to doing every job well, his ability to see to the heart of a problem and find the simplest solution, his fascination with both the world of manufacturing and the natural world, along with his commitment to his wife Marilyn and his family led him down diverse paths both professionally and personally, building a long, rich, and meaningful life.

Upon leaving military service after World War II, where he earned the Silver Star for valor as an infantry Private First Class in the Ardennes, Bob enrolled in Harvard University on the GI Bill majoring in Geology, and went on to earn an MBA at Harvard Business School. While at Harvard, Bob met Marilyn Spoehr, and fell deeply and enduringly in love. Bob and Marilyn were married in June 1950. They were together as soul mates and partners in everything until Marilyn's death in 2025. Bob and Marilyn lived in Cambridge and Watertown, MA when they were first married, then in Acton, MA, Carlisle MA, and Weston MA while raising their family, finally settling in Lexington MA, where they loved their home, yard, and community.

Bob's career began in manufacturing, starting with a summer job as a line worker in the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors in 1950, and moving on to 20 years of supervisory and management positions at Raytheon and Polaroid Corporation.

In 1970, Bob made a switch to academia, beginning with 2 years as a visiting lecturer at Harvard Business School, where he taught an MBA course in Production and Operations Management and assisted new associate professors in learning about manufacturing. Bob found that he enjoyed teaching and research, and went on to become the assistant director and a founding member of the Center for Policy Alternatives, an MIT based consulting group formed to assist both government and industry in shaping the changing industrial landscape of the 1970s. At MIT, Bob became a senior lecturer of engineering and manufacturing management in a joint program with the Mechanical Engineering department and the Sloane School. While at MIT, Bob was drawn to study the remanufacturing industry, and went on to found a remanufacturing trade group to facilitate valuable research and create avenues for communication within that industry. In 1983, the Center for Policy Alternatives moved from MIT to Boston University and became the Center for Policy and Technology, where Bob continued to teach manufacturing engineering to deepen his involvement with remanufacturing and to broaden his consulting work to include small manufacturers throughout New England. Bob loved the challenge and camaraderie of his work, his colleagues, and his students, right up until he fully retired from BU in 2012, a few weeks before his 88th birthday.

Bob's love for manufacturing also followed him home, where he was an avid woodworker and do-it-yourself problem solver and inventor. His home workshop produced many beautiful and useful pieces of cabinetry, furniture, and decorative and fun pieces. His family recalls how one time, when winter rains brought basement flooding and not a pump could be found in any store, Bob stood in his fishing waders at his workbench making a pump from the parts of an old washing machine he had disassembled a year or so before.

All of the Lund households feature Bob's innovations ranging from practical banana hangers and wooden paperclip holders to beautiful walnut candle-sticks and whimsical tiny model airplanes made from maple seeds. Bob's major construction projects included the design and some of the construction of Bob and Marilyn's home in Carlisle, MA, all of the cabinetry for their remodeled basement in Weston, MA, swings and a jungle gym in every back yard, a spectacular ropes course he provided for his children and their friends in Weston, and the barn he designed and built for his daughter Kathy's horse, also in Weston.

Bob was always a teacher at heart – all his life he passed on to his family many lessons, and a joy in observing and learning.

A nature lover, gardener, and amateur mycologist, Bob spent much of his free time outdoors working in the yard, walking in the woods with his family, camping, fishing, and exploring beautiful parts of the United States by car. When their family went in the woods, Bob usually had his camera along, and, when he would see something interesting in nature, such as a beautiful mushroom, he would immediately stop, set up his lenses and tripod, and take a picture. This sometimes made walks with Bob an exercise in waiting more than walking, but we all learned a lot about mushrooms and nature, both in the woods and in the subsequent slide-show presentations. For their 50th anniversary, Bob and Marilyn took a long vacation in Norway, where they were able to visit and connect with places and people from both of his parents' backgrounds. In his nineties, Bob lost most of his hearing and eyesight, but he still greeted every day with purpose and gratitude – for his life, for his beloved wife, for his home, and for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When he found himself no longer able to work in his workshop or in the garden, he sought instead to find ways to delight Marilyn with peaceful days spent together, brightened with a lovely snack or perfect flower brought from the yard.

Bob Lund lived an extraordinary life, with deep love for family and friends, a drive to learn, to teach, and to create beautiful, useful and fun things with his hands. Bob never sought fanfare, but he always received respect and honor from those around him. He carried and radiated an enduring faith in God, and a deep gratitude for every kindness he received and everything he had experienced in life. Bob's memory will continue to be a blessing to all who knew him.

The Lund family gratefully thanks the caregivers who helped Marilyn, Bob and all of us in recent years, especially the staff at Rivercrest at Newbury Court and Care Dimensions Hospice who supported Bob and Marilyn and our family with such kindness and respect during their final months.