CONRAD AND JEANNE SORENSEN HONORED
AS DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
Former camp directors given
Dana College's highest alumni award, Oct. 1
Conrad and Jeanne Sorensen were honored with Dana College’s
highest alumni honor Oct. 1 in Blair, Neb., when the college bestowed
upon them the title of “Distinguished Alumni,” at a
special ceremony held as part of Homecoming festivities.
Honorees are chosen for their achievements after leaving Dana College.
In the Sorensen’s case, their dedication and service to Lake
Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp was a deciding factor.
Conrad and Jeanne Sorensen have both felt God guiding their path
through their lives, and although they were never sure where it
was leading, it always led them to joy in getting to know people
through the outdoors, on the farm, on the job and at church camp.
They both arrived at Dana in the fall of 1958. He was a business
major and she worked toward a degree in elementary education. Connie’s
time at Dana would last two years. A member of the football team,
his fondest Dana memory was of the honor he felt when he was asked
to speak at Chapel. Jeanne also left Dana the first time without
her degree, but the pull of a Dana education eventually drew her
back. She received her teaching degree 23 years later, graduating
summa cum laude as salutatorian of the 1972 class.
The farm would be the couple’s home for many years. Although
Jeanne did not actually receive her bachelor’s degree until
later, her early education qualified her to teach in Iowa’s
rural elementary schools, with a total of 13 years spent in at Shelby
County, Irwin and Harlan before she got her degree. She had finished
her degree by making the 65-mile one-way trip to Dana each summer
morning to take classes and still got home in time to make lunch
on the farm each day.
In the fall of 1976, the couple took a dramatic step in becoming
co-directors of Lake Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp (now Ingham Okoboji
Lutheran Bible Camp) and moving there. At the time, Connie was also
building and selling homes while the couple still lived on their
farm; she was teaching school in Harlan. Their camp association
began back in 1961 when Connie was named to the camp’s board.
They spent the summer of 1976 as volunteers at the camp; they had
spent 1975 working with staff and program development there. The
camp directorship was a job that gained them friends and relationships
for more almost 20 years before they turned over the leadership
to their son, Mark, executive director of the camp since 1993. An
outgrowth of the camp work was in Jeanne’s organizing a travel
program for adults, which has taken the couple across the nation
and even to Israel.
They have been active members of the Lutheran church all their
lives. Connie’s other activities include the Waldorf College
Board of Regents, the Iowa District Men of the Church, the Salem
Lutheran Church Home and the Latin American Lutheran Church Mission.
Along with her other activities, Jeanne also helped establish and
manage a Christian Book Store in Harlan for several years. The ELCA
also recognized the camp and Jeanne for it’s emphasis on senior
adult programs.
The couple has two sons, Mark and Paul, who with their wives have
given the Sorensens six grandchildren. They have touched the lives
of many through their work; at least 35 camp staff members at Okoboji
have gone on to become ordained ministers and another 50 have served
as church youth directors. They credit Dana for giving them a background
of faith and friendship that has helped sustain them through the
years.
Dana College is a place where all students actively participate.
They make things happen — in their own lives and in the lives
of others. Through a highly supportive faculty and campus community,
Dana students develop interpersonal skills, leadership abilities,
and other important values and knowledge as they make choices about
their future. Dana’s outstanding academic programs in business,
education, art and social work, among others, ensure that students
have the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to pursue challenging
careers or placement in graduate school.
Dana College is a private, liberal arts institution in Blair, Neb.
To learn more, visit www.dana.edu.
Dana College: Develop talents, Take charge, Build a future —
We’re with you all the way.
— END —
For more information contact:
Sarah Cavanah
Communications Coordinator
Dana College
(402) 426-7216
scavanah@dana.edu
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