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Joanne is a noted American author.

St. Cloud State president from 1965 to 1971. He also served as a faculty member in Speech Communication and, after retirement from St. Cloud State, served as various interim capacities on campus.

Sue E. Henrikson (Peterson) attended St. Cloud Teachers College 1953-1957. During her time on campus she participated in a multitude of clubs and activities. She was elected Publication Board Representative (1953), Secretary for Religion in Life Week (1954), nominated for Homecoming Queen (1954), and nominated secretary for Associated Women Students (1955). Hendrikson was a member of the Choral Club and Minerva Society. She attended many dances, socials, and theatrical performances during her time at St. Cloud. She married Tom Peterson whom attended St. Cloud and was a member of the Al Sirat Fraternity.

Max Partch was a biology faculty member at St. Cloud State from 1949 to 1979 where he taught classes in biology and ecology.

Partch was born to Reverend and Mrs. L.C. Partch on November 26, 1916 in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. He was one of five children.

Partch graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1939 with a bachelor of arts degree. After World War II, where he served in the Panama Canal Zone, Partch began his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. In 1949, Partch was awarded a Ph.D. in ecology and moved to St. Cloud to teach at the then St. Cloud State Teachers College.

While at St. Cloud State, Partch was widely known for his research studying the population and vegetation changes at the great blue heron preserve near Cold Spring, Minnesota, just west of St. Cloud. Partch also purchased and donated 80 acres of land, known as Partch Woods, to the Nature Conservatory.

Partch retired in 1979 and would later settle in Payson, Arizona. He passed away on October 1, 2003 in Payson.

On February 14, 1947, Partch married Betty Mitchell. They had four children.

Retired Vice President for Administrative Affairs

Born June 30, 1900 to George and Annie McAllister, Maybelle (Mabel) attended St. Cloud State from 1920 to 1922. She graduated in spring 1922. During her time at St. Cloud State, she was a resident of Lawrence Hall and a member of the Camera Kraft Club. After graduation, McAllister taught one year at Roseau and another year at Greenbush Public Schools in Minnesota. She married Gustav A. Kassube and raised three children. She died on September 25, 1990 at the age of 90 and buried in Peace Cemetery in Bertha, Minnesota.

Retired SCSU faculty member

Retired SCSU faculty member

Maurine Gray Bailey was born on April 24, 1903, to Henry and Minnie Bailey in Prairie Du Chen, Wisconsin. By 1920 the family had moved to Foley, Minnesota. Bailey then arrived the St. Cloud Teachers College in June 1921 and graduated in June 1923. After graduating she married Clyde Everett Shattuck on November 27, 1924 and had one daughter named Marie (1927-?) and two sons named Malcolm (1929-1967) and Hallan (1938-?). Clyde passed away in 1955 at the age of 62 and Maurine married Arthur Kohl in 1967. Maurine Gray Shattuck-Kohl died February 5, 1974 at the age of 70 and buried at Acacia Cemetery in Clearwater, MN.

Virginia was born on October 5, 1921 to Dudley and Merl Brainard. She was the oldest of five children that included Constance (1924-2000), Eleanor (1926-2001), Charles (1929- ), and Edward (Ned) (1931- ). Dudley was a faculty member and, later, St. Cloud State president from 1943 to 1947.

After one year at St. Cloud State Teachers College, Virginia attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. She graduated in 1943.

After graduation in 1943, Virginia worked at the Clinton Daily Herald. She eventually made her way to the Minneapolis Tribune. From 1962 to 1989 she served as executive director of the Ramsey County Historical Society in St. Paul. Here she founded the Society’s quarterly magazine, Ramsey County History, in 1964. She was author of many magazine articles and fifteen books in the field of state and local history.

On April 22, 1950, Virginia married Richard Kunz in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They had two children: Susan and David. Richard passed away in 1978. Virginia died on January 7, 2005 at the age of 84.

Douglas A. Birk was born on April 26, 1943, in Evanston, Illinois. His parents were Delbert and Esther Birk. In 1950 the Birk family relocated to Pine River, Minnesota, to manage the Camp-Show-Me resort on the bank of Norway Lake. Doug showed an interest in local history and archaeology at a young age including Native American mounds, remains from the early days of Minnesota’s logging era, and the travel routes used by fur traders and early explorers, topics which would hold his professional interest throughout his career.

Birk enrolled at Brainerd Junior College in 1961 then transferred to the University of Minnesota the following year. There Birk revived his interest in archaeology under the mentorship of Professor Elden Johnson and graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology in 1966. Shortly after graduation Birk was drafted and spent the next four years in Army Intelligence, including 24 months in Vietnam. At the end of his enlistment Birk reconnected with Johnson to seek employment as an archaeologist and secured a position as a staff archaeologist with the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) in 1970.

Birk worked at this position for the next eleven years, gaining experience at archaeological projects statewide. During his time with the MHS Birk began to specialize in the archaeology of the fur trade and Minnesota’s French and British colonial period, developing a reputation for meticulous historical research. An accomplished diver, Birk also pioneered new methods for underwater photography and excavation. He also involved himself in the development of the profession in Minnesota, serving as Secretary-Treasurer of the Council for Minnesota Archaeology (CMA) from 1973 to 1975. He would go on to hold the Vice-Presidency of this organization from 1982 to 1984.

Birk enrolled in the Anthropology M.A. program at the University of Minnesota in 1977 but dropped out the following year. He would return to the same program in 1995 and received his degree after a successful thesis defense in 1999.

Budget cuts in 1981 eliminated Birk’s position and he switched to independent contract work under the name of Northland Archaeological Services. Birk continued to accept Northland contracts until 1987, but in 1982 his focus shifted to a new venture he formed with a small group of colleagues: a nonprofit organization for archaeological contract work, outreach, and education called the Institute for Minnesota Archaeology (IMA).

Birk’s main interest in founding the IMA was to gain institutional support for a project area that would dominate the rest of his career: a tract of land north of Little Falls containing the site of an 18th-century fur trading fort. In 1982 the newly formed IMA conducted a short survey at the site which received the site number 21MO20. The Minnesota Parks Foundation purchased the surrounding property the following year, ensuring its preservation.

The IMA expanded over the following years and undertook projects throughout Minnesota. Birk gained publicity for the organization by locating the site of Zebulon Pike’s 1805 wintering fort south of Little Falls in 1984, but his attention repeatedly returned to the area surrounding 21MO20. In 1987 the IMA purchased the land from Minnesota Parks and began managing it as the Little Elk Heritage Preserve (LEHP). Under Birk’s direction the LEHP was conceived as a Public Archaeology space combining active excavations with educational programs and tourist activities.

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s Birk pursued development of the LEHP in parallel with multiple research projects. Continuing research areas included the French colonial period; portage routes; and fur trade era artifacts and people, especially the Northwest Company trader John Sayer. New research projects included a history of the town of Little Falls, a study of Protestant missions in Minnesota, and the historic communities of Old Crow Wing and Chengwatana.

This period of great productivity for Birk ended in 2002 when a sudden financial crisis forced the IMA into bankruptcy. In the ensuing rush to preserve the IMA’s collections and records Birk acquired most of the artifacts and administrative records relating to 21MO20 and the LEHP, adding to his personal research collection. The LEHP returned to state ownership in 2003, its archaeological resources protected by a preservation covenant.

Following the end of the IMA, Birk returned to contract work for most of his income including projects for Minnesota Power and the Grand Portage National Monument. He also served on the State Review Board for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) from 2000 to at least 2009 and coordinated with multiple local historical societies, including Heritage Group North’s successful attempt to preserve the Pine River Depot.

In his later years Birk focused on writing and publishing the results of decades of research in his areas of expertise. Following his unexpected death on March 8, 2017, Birk left manuscripts in various stages of completion on northern Minnesota railroads, Old Crow Wing, John Sayer, and the Protestant mission movement, among others. At the time of his death Birk lived in Pine River, Minnesota, with his life partner Lynda Weiss. Birk had no children and was survived by Weiss and his brother, Delbert Birk.

John T. Clawson, Minnesota state legislator from District 19A  (1975-1980) and District 19B (1981-1984), was born August 7, 1945 in St. Paul, Minnesota. His family, of Danish lineage from the Lincoln Co-Tyler area, moved around Minnesota until settling in Bloomington, Minnesota. His great-grandfather, J. T. Clawson, was elected Superintendent of Schools in Lincoln Co. around the turn of the century. His paternal grandfather was appointed as the Minnesota House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms in the mid 1950's by Senator Joseph Vonheim of Tyler, Minnesota.

After finishing at Bloomington High School in 1963, Clawson attended Augsburg College in Minneapolis, majoring in Latin and Greek. He graduated in 1967, and began attending Northwestern Theological Seminary in St. Paul. Upon graduation in 1971, Clawson accepted a "two-point" parish in Harris, Minnesota, which included the First Lutheran of Harris and Calvary Lutheran in Stanchfield, and served in this capacity until 1974. In 1974 he was also hired as pastoral consultant to Hazelden, a rehabilitation center in Center City, Minnesota.

Clawson's interest in politics had its roots in his early appreciation of history and world affairs, as well as college activism at the seminary in the late 1960's. Labelling himself both Conservative and Republican, he attended his first Republican Caucus in 1972. Upon sensing the local party to be more "reactionary ideologues" than they were politically conservative, Clawson caucused with the DFL party in 1974. Clawson endorsed and won the 1974 state representative race over incumbent Republican Mike Olmstead with a 52% of the vote. In the Minnesota House he was appointed to the Judiciary, Local and Urban Affairs, and the Health and Welfare Committees. One of the major pieces of legislation he co-authored involved the reorganization of the Minnesota court system. Clawson won as the incumbent in 1976, and became involved in the House Orientation Committee and in creating the Department of Economic Security. Clawson was re-elected in 1978, 1980, and 1982.

Clawson was married to Susan Luetje from Red Wing in 1968. They had two daughters together, Jennifer and Amanda. He was remarried around 1987 to Christine Halvorson, and then again around 1999 to Annette Roth.

William J. Ellingson was an Art faculty member at St. Cloud State University from 1963 to 1993. Born in Forrestberg, South Dakota on March 29, 1933, Ellingson received BFA from the Minneapolis School of Art in 1960 and his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1963.

William Heuer was born in 1905 in Bertha, Minnesota. William Heuer married Selma Rosenberg and had eight children. Besides being a livestock farmer and bookkeeper, Heuer participated on many boards including the Town Board, School Board, PMA Board, and Co-op Board. Heuer was the Minnesota state Senator for District 54 from 1954 to 1966. Heuer died in 1975.

Born in St. Cloud, Minnesota to Ralph and Melania Hinkemeyer on October 18, 1940, Michael Thomas Hinkemeyer grew up on a farm near South Haven, Minnesota, just south of St. Cloud.

Upon graduation from St. Cloud’s Cathedral high school in 1958, Hinkemeyer attended, and later graduated from St. John’s University in nearby Collegeville, Minnesota with a bachelor of arts in History in 1962.

After graduation from St. John’s University in 1962, Hinkemeyer was commissioned as a lieutenant in the ROTC and was stationed mostly in Europe for the next two years. When Hinkemeyer was discharged, he worked as a supervisor at the Montgomery Ward Mail Order Company and saved money to attend graduate school at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Hinkemeyer graduated from Northwestern University in 1966 with a master of arts degree and landed a job teaching high school in Long Island, New York. Hinkemeyer soon returned to Northwestern, this time to earn his Ph.D. He completed his degree in late 1970. While at Northwestern, Hinkemeyer taught at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Soon after graduating with his Ph.D., Hinkemeyer took a position at Queens College in New York and taught Intellectual History, Social Science Research, and Principles of Education. While teaching, Hinkemeyer first book was published – it was entitled The Dark Below.

In 1976, Hinkemeyer was laid off from Queens College and then began his career as a full-time author.

In August 1967, Hinkemeyer married Arlene Dingilian in Cincinnati, Ohio. They had two children, Ellen Lara (born in 1970) and Jonathan Edward (born in 1973).

Hinkemeyer’s books, including those written as Vanessa Royall and Jan Lara:

The Dark Below (1974)

Summer Solstice (1976)

The Fields of Eden (1977)

The Creator (1978)

Flames of Desire (1978) [as Vanessa Royall]

Come Faith, Come Fire (1979) [as Vanessa Royall]

Sea Cliff (1979) [Re-issue of The Dark Below]

Firebrand’s Woman (1980) [as Vanessa Royall]

The Harbinger (1980) [also known as Dark Angel Pass By]

Lilac Night: A Novel of Revenge (1981)

Wild Wind Westward (1982) [as Vanessa Royall]

Seize the Dawn (1983) [as Vanessa Royall]

A Time to Reap: An Emil Whippletree Mystery (1984)

The Passionate and the Proud (1984) [as Vanessa Royall]

Fourth Down, Death (1985)

Fires of Delight (1986) [as Vanessa Royall]

Limbo (1988) [as Jan Lara]

The Order of the Arrow (1990)

Soulcatchers (1990)

John T. Kosloske was born in December 1907, in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. He was raised in a family of nine children. His parents came to Chicago, Illinois from Prussia, Germany in 1884 and later moved to Sauk Rapids. He started out in politics in 1928 as a Justice of the Peace, a position which he held until he was elected to the Minnesota State legislature for the 1949, 1951, and 1953 sessions. In 1936 he married Marcela Brunz of Leroy, Minnesota. He had stepchildren, Dorothy and William. In 1965 he was elected mayor of Sauk Rapids where he served from 1966 to 1967. He passed away on February 4, 2004.

Isabel was the daughter of Claude Lewis, who was the older brother of author Sinclair Lewis.

Born on April 12, 1921 in New Jersey, Marcella Powers passed away on March 10, 1985 in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of 63. Marcella was survived by children Emily Pigeon and Alexander Pigeon. A son, Michael Edward Amrine, passed away in a 1971 Paris car accident.

Gladys Tirrell Nelson was born on March 2, 1917. Nelson, who hailed from Melrose, Minnesota, graduated from St. Cloud State in 1940. Before World War II, she taught in the Menahga and Crookston school systems in Minnesota. After training as a physical therapist, Nelson was commissioned into the Medical Corps for the duration of the war. She returned to St. Cloud State in 1961 to teach biology and work with children through special education. Nelson left St. Cloud State in the early 1980s.

She married dentist Norman B. Nelson in 1948 and had a son and two daughters. Her husband Norman passed away on November 26, 1995, while Gladys passed away on June 5, 2003. Both are buried at the North Star Cemetery in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Don Samuelson was born on August 23, 1932 in Brainerd, Minnesota. He attended the Brainerd High School and became a bricklayer. Mr. Samuelson served as the DFL Crow Wing County Chairman from 1962 to 1968, when he ran for State Representative. He has since been re-elected every term to serve in District 13A. Other positions have included the Vice-President for the Minnesota AFL-CIO for four years, Bricklayers Union, Elks Club Member, and St. Joseph Hospital Director. He has served on the Appropriations and Veterans Affairs committee in the State House.

LaVyrle Kulick Spencer was born on July 17, 1943, in Browerville, Minnesota, to Jan and Louis Kulick. After her parents divorced, LaVyrle and her sister moved to Alexandria, Minnesota, with mother Jan.

Soon after graduation from the Staples High School in Staples, Minnesota, LaVyrle married her high school sweetheart Dan Spencer on February 10, 1962. They had two children: Amy Elizabeth and Beth Adair, who passed away in 1990.

Living in the Twin Cities since just after their wedding, Spencer’s first job outside the home was as an instructional aid at the Osseo junior high school in Osseo, Minnesota. During that time, she read the romance novel The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss, a trend setting book that sold millions of copies. In an interview in 1979, Spencer said that Woodiwiss book “broke the barrier by allowing romantic novelists, most of whom were women, to write tastefully but explicitly about sex.” Spencer began her writing career in July 1976, basing her story on a dream she had about her grandmother’s life on a Minnesota farm. Spencer was assisted by Woodiwiss to get that tale published. Her first book, The Fulfillment, was made available in 1979.

Until her retirement in 1997 at the height of her career, Spencer published 24 books. Four were adapted into television movies: The Fulfillment of Mary Gray (based on her book The Fulfillment) (1989), Morning Glory (1993), Home Song (1996), and Family Blessings (1998). Well known Hollywood actors and actresses appeared in the adaptations including Cheryl Ladd, Christopher Reeve, Lynda Carter, and Pam Grier.

Spencer was elected to the Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame. Many of Spencer’s books have been New York Times bestsellers.

Spencer’s books are:

The Fulfillment (1979)

The Endearment (1982)

Forsaking All Others (1982)

Hummingbird (1983)

A Promise to Cherish (1983)

The Hellion (1984)

Sweet Memories (1984)

Twice Loved (1984)

Separate Beds (1985)

Spring Fancy (1985)

A Heart Speaks (1986)

The Gamble (1987)

Years (1987)

Vows (1988)

Morning Glory (1989)

Bitter Sweet (1990)

Forgiving (1991)

Bygones (1992)

November of the Heart (1993)

Family Blessings (1994)

Home Song (1995)

That Camden Summer (1996)

Then Came Heaven (1997)

Small Town Girl (1997)

Aloys John Tschumperlin owned the largest furniture store and funeral business in St. Cloud during the early 1900s. He was born July 10, 1873 in St. Cloud to Aloys Tschumperlin and Mary Grandelmeyer. He was the oldest of eight surviving children. Other siblings included Mary, Joseph W., Martha, Raymond, Rosa, Anna, and Edward. Tschumperlin worked at his father Aloys' furniture store which opened in 1872. He purchased the business in 1904 and closed it in 1928 to focus on the funeral business. In 1930, Tschumpelin moved the funeral business to 315 West St. Germain into the Edelbrock-Zapp-Scott House. In 1949, Bernard Williams joined the business and the funeral home was renamed Tschumperlin-Williams Funeral Home and the business moved to 1900 Veterans Drive in St. Cloud in 1973.

Tshcumperlin had great interest in the Nevada gold mines and was a member of multiple organizations such as the Elks, Chamber of Commerce, and Knights of Columbus. He was chairman of the Red Cross Stearns County chapter, and won awards for his raising of tree roses and dahlias. Tschumperlin served with the Minnesota National Guard during World War I. Tschumperlin married Elizabeth McLaughlin on August 15, 1907 and they had one daughter, Margaret, who was born on November 8, 1909. Aloys and Elizabeth continued to live in St. Cloud until their deaths. Tshcumperlin passed away on November 19, 1959, while Elizabeth died on March 2, 1954. Both are buried in St. Cloud's Calvary Cemetery. Daughter Margaret, who married James W. Colliton on September 6, 1933, passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah, on August 10, 1969, leaving behind her husband and three children, James (Jr.), Patricia, and Joan.

Joseph P. Wilson was born in Columbia Falls, Maine on March 16, 1823. Wilson, along with George F. Brott and C.T. Stearns, purchased and platted the land that would become Lower Town of St. Cloud, Minnesota. Wilson studied law in Geneva, Illinois and in 1846 enlisted for the Mexican War as part of an Illinois regiment. After the war, Wilson married Mary P. Corbett and moved to St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota in 1850. Upon arriving in Minnesota, Wilson became involved in real estate, purchasing property in what is now northeast Minneapolis and in St. Anthony Park. Wilson also purchased property in what would become St. Cloud. He also worked in the lumbering, mercantile, and railroad business. He served as a Ramsey county commissioner from 1852 to 1855, was a member of the 1858 Minnesota constitutional convention, and served as a Minnesota state senator from 1864 to 1865.

Wilson was an original landowner in the new city of St. Cloud, Minnesota.

He moved to St. Cloud in 1863 and built a house in East St. Cloud in 1888. It was here that he platted more city lots and lived until his death on February 18, 1900. His wife Mary and their five children survived him - Justus A. Wilson (1851), Ida Wilson Van Cleve (1854), Franklin B. Wilson (1859), Edith Wilson Thompson (1861), and Helen Wilson Schwartz (1865). Wilson is buried in St. Cloud's North Star Cemetery.

Joseph was the brother of one of St. Cloud's founders, John L. Wilson.

Fred Lewis was the oldest of three children of Edwin and Emma Kermott Lewis and was born on October 1, 1875. Fred died on January 15, 1946.

St. Cloud State's Phi Kappa Phi honorary fraternity was established on April 29, 1974. The chapter became inactive sometime after 1999. It was the first chapter established in Minnesota.

Phi Kappa Phi is a national scholastic honor society which recognizes academic achievement in all scholastic disciplines. Juniors, seniors, and graduate students are eligible to join on the basis of academic standing and character. Faculty who have outstanding accomplishments are also invited to join.