Fyrand Endowed Scholarship Fund

The Edmore and Hannah Okerlund Fyrand Endowed Scholarship at Luther Seminary was established by Carol Lacey, eldest daughter of Edmore and Hannah Okerlund Fyrand, to rejoice in and celebrate Edmore and Hannah Okerland Fyrand’s lifelong shared ministry focused on youth, parish education and music. Edmore, son of immigrant Norwegian farmers, and Hannah, daughter of a Hauge Synod pastor, felt clear calls to ministry from their youth. Luther College professors encouraged Edmore to attend seminary soon after graduation, but after the 1929 bank failure, he taught high school music and Latin for ten years and pursued graduate study in education before enrolling at Luther Seminary. Hannah, a high school history teacher with a master’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota, directed church choirs in her father’s parish near Frost, Minnesota, preparing them to sing in F. Melius Christiansen’s Choral Unions. They served rural parishes in Finley and Walcott, North Dakota, and Hazel Run and Montevideo, Minnesota. They planned dynamic, inspiring and fun programming that actively engaged youth, and organized fundraisers to enable as many as possible to experience Bible camps and/or national youth conventions. Hannah directed children’s and adult choirs and led adult Bible studies. After Edmore’s death in 1976, Hannah was asked to assume his responsibilities in a newly created position of Parish Visitor. She developed a dynamic ministry for the elderly that involved Agape volunteers visiting parishioners. The deep imprint of their ministry continues decades after their active ministry as many former parishioners recount the impact they had on their faith and their lives. This scholarship was established to honor the ministry of Rev. Edmore and Hannah Okerlund Fyrand by providing important support for M. Div. students preparing for ordained ministry with special emphasis in youth work.