Dr. Edward V. Voldseth, 86, of Cedar Falls died on Thursday, December 18, 2008, at the Cedar Falls Lutheran Home of natural causes. He was born May 29, 1922, in Harlowton, Montana, son of Nels and Mina Grande Voldseth. He married Elizabeth Settle on September 1, 1945, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Billings, Montana. Dr. Voldseth attended the rural grade school in Lennep, Montana. He graduated from Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Montana in 1944. He received his M.A. degree from Columbia University in New York City in 1946 and his Ph. D. in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Iowa in 1958. Dr. Voldseth was assistant dean of men and instructor of business administration at Carroll College, Waukesha, Wisconsin, from 1946-1949, director of student affairs for men (dean of men) at Drake University in Des Moines from 1949-1956, and dean of students at the University of Alaska from 1958-1964.
He worked in various levels at the University of Northern Iowa, retiring as assistant to the president for state relations in 1987. He served with representatives of the University of Iowa and Iowa State University as a trio that jointly promoted the proposals of the State Board of Regents to the Iowa General Assembly. Dr. Voldseth was active in local, state, and national boards of the Episcopal Church while living in Alaska and Iowa. He served as a board member of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, for a decade. He was elected to a six-year term on the board of Sartori Memorial Hospital in 1987 and became chairman of the board in 1991. He served as a member of the board of directors of Cedar Falls Savings and Loan Association for many years. Following that association's merger with American Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines, he became a member of the American Federal board. He was a member and Past President of the Rotary Club of Cedar Falls. He was a Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League and a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.
Survived by: his wife; two sons: Nels (Kim) of Houston, Texas, and John (Willa) of Martinsdale, Montana; two daughters: Karen (Michael) Schoville of Johnston, and Kristin Voldseth of Cedar Falls; four grandchildren: Eric (Shasta) Locke of Waterloo and Elizabeth Locke of Denver, Colorado, Anne Schoville of Urbandale, Iowa, and Ellen Schoville of Iowa City, Iowa; one great-grandson, Steven Robert Locke; one brother, Norman; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and a brother George. Memorial services: 11 AM, Wednesday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Cedar Falls. His body has been cremated and will be inurned at a later day at Lennep Memorial Park in Montana. Memorials: may be directed to St. Luke's Episcopal Church or to the University of Northern Iowa Foundation's Students First Fund, in lieu of flowers.
From a Locke Funeral Home on-line obituary accessed September 8, 2009.