*Dennis Paul Bolstad, 89, of Northfield, Minn., passed away at the Northfield Hospital on Feb. 13, 2015.

Born Aug. 7, 1925, in New London, Minn. to a Norwegian immigrant father and Swedish mother, he grew up in Spicer, Minn., graduated from Willmar High School, and joined the U.S. Navy, serving with the Seabees in the South Pacific during WWII. He subsequently earned a bachelor of arts degree at St. Olaf College, a master of education degree at Macalester College, and a doctor of education degree at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Dennis married Marie Trodahl Bolstad ’50 in 1951 and together they raised five children, all graduating from Menomonie High School, and through 17 consecutive years of at least one child in college, sent them to St. Olaf College, Macalester College, Concordia College – Moorhead, Cornell College in Iowa, and Gustavus Adolphus College.

Dennis taught high school English and History in Mahtomedi, Minn. and was the high school principal in Lake Benton, Minn., but spent most of his working life at Stout State College, Stout State University, and the University of Wisconsin – Stout in Menomonie, mostly teaching psychology, philosophy, and education courses.

An active member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, he also served the community with Habitat for Humanity and along with Marie received a volunteer-of-the-year award from the governor of Wisconsin for work with displaced youth in the Menomonie area.

Always an iconoclast, when Dennis saw wrong he tried to right it. As a young student, he wore a dress to school to protest a dress code treating city and country kids differently. He was also known to refuse to pay the war tax on the telephone bill, to give final exams in the middle of the term, to refuse to join the union, to run a bookstore out of his office, to buy and sell enough used cars that he was told he would need a dealer’s license to sell any more, and to convince his colleagues that they should all take a pay cut so that another colleague could be retained in the department.

Dennis was preceded in death by his parents, Johannes and Lavinia Johnson Bolstad; and his brothers, John, Robert, and Don.

He is survived by his wife, Marie; his sister and brother-in-law, Jane Bolstad Parr ’44 and Robert Parr; his sister-in-law, June; his children, Peder Bolstad ’74, Rolf, Ruth and husband Dave Chapman, Arne Bolstad ’84 and wife Karen, and Thor; his grandchildren, Drake, Quinn, Morgan, Peyton, Trace, Webb, and Gretta; and his nieces and nephews, Laura, Tom, Cindy, Steven, Jeanne, and Carol.

Though not by blood, Dennis is also survived by his “Chinese kids” – Stout students from Taiwan and their extended families that lived with Dennis and Marie through their college years and continue to stay in touch.

Memorials to your charity choice – Dennis had many!