Wesley Lind

Wesley Keith Lind collapsed shortly before completing the third game at his twice-weekly bowling league on Friday, May 13, 2011. He died later that day of complications from leukemia and congestive heart failure at Lakeland Medical Center.

He was born in Chicago on August 20, 1922, to Danish parents, Charles and Agnes Jensen Lind. After graduating from Parker High School in 1941, he served in England, France, and Germany as a radar operator during World War II.

After the war, he attended the University of Chicago on the GI bill, graduating with a bachelor’s of science in chemistry in 1948. He worked as a chemist for 10 years at Paint Research, and afterward for 8 years at McCrone Associates. However, persuaded by his pastor Reverend John Nilson that there was more to life than making money, he returned to school to get his master’s of science in teaching from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1966. He earned a second master’s degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1971. This enabled him to teach chemistry and – when they needed a physics teacher - physics at Bloom Township High School until his first retirement in 1984. Not a person to sit on his hands, after moving to Sawyer, Michigan, he became assistant treasurer for Chikaming Township, a position he held until a week before his death.

After 63 years of marriage, Wesley remained as delighted with his wife Inga Eklof as when he married her in Chicago on December 27, 1947. In 1953, they moved to Chicago Heights, where looser building codes allowed Wesley to not only build their house, but also install the plumbing and electricity. He was a great father to his three daughters. Educated women, they nonetheless relied on the breadth and depth of his knowledge for entertainment, for philosophical discussion, and for help in life; his absence leaves a vacuum. His curious mind kept him reading books, newspapers, and magazines.

Wesley was a deacon, financial secretary, Sunday School teacher, and church chairman during his membership at Bethel Covenant Church in Chicago Heights Illinois. At Harbert Community Church in Michigan, he cooked breakfast for the men every Tuesday morning for twenty-five years; he cooked breakfast for the last time on the Tuesday preceding his death. He taught the kids how to make pies during Vacation Bible School and organized the annual celebration for Boy Scout Sunday. He and Inga held a Jeopardy game for the residents at the Whitcomb Tower each month. Throughout his life, he readily lent a hand to his neighbors and friends.

Wesley learned to grow orchids and roses in his retirement. He became an accomplished baker of bread and cookies, and a less expert clarinet player. He persuaded Inga that investing in the stock market was not the same as gambling, and did well. He and Inga enjoyed traveling to visit family and sightseeing in the United States and in Europe.

Wesley was preceded in death by his parents; his sister Jacqueline Lind; his twin sister Phyllis Best; and his granddaughter Meg Odom. He will be sorely missed by his wife Inga Lind (Sawyer MI); his sister Lois Dresback (Hoodsport WA); his children Janice Odom (Owensboro KY), Diane and Bruce Fenster (Green Bay WI), and Alice Lind and Keith Dublanica (Olympia WA); and his grandchildren Susan Odom (Champaign IL), Steven Fenster (Minneapolis MN), and Michael Fenster (Chicago).

Wesley was a loving husband, a devoted father, a proud grandfather, and the best friend and neighbor anyone could ever want.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 9 at 1PM at Harbert Community Church. Memorial contributions can be made to Harbert Community Church, P.O. Box 197, Harbert, MI, 49115.

Memorial Service

1 PM ,Saturday, July 9, 2011
Harbert Community Church
6444 Harbert Road Harbert, MI 49115