Nordeen Elroy Offerdahl

January 16, 1919 – January 16, 2013

Devoted husband, father, son, brother, grandfather, great grandfather and public servant

Nordeen Offerdahl was born in the family farmhouse in Springdale Township, near Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin on Jan. 16, 1919 to Namen and Thea (Thorson) Offerdahl. He died peacefully surrounded by his family on his 94th birthday, Jan. 16, 2013 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he had lived with his daughter and family for ten years.

Nor served in WWII, and volunteered for the Army Air Corps the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He proudly served as an Air Traffic Control Operator for four years in North Africa, Corsica and Italy. One of his favorite memories was sitting in a control tower in N. Africa with General Jimmy Doolittle for part of a day.

Once he returned from overseas, Nor married his sweetheart, Dolores Midthun, on August 12, 1945. They were married four months short of 50 years when Dolores died in 1995. Starting married life in Middleton, Nor’s hometown, they moved to Stoughton in 1949 where they both got involved in the community. Nor worked as Furniture Manager at Koltes and Keegan for many years and retired from U & S Furniture. He served as Second Ward Alderman for 25 years and was also active in Central Lutheran and Covenant Lutheran Churches, among many other local organizations through the years. He was very proud of Stoughton and happily showed any visitor around the city.

Nor enjoyed playing many sports in his youth and enjoyed watching his favorite sports teams as he got older. He was a big fan of the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, and the University of Wisconsin football and basketball teams.

Nordeen is survived by his daughter, Judy Offerdahl (Ron Gados) and granddaughter Karen Offerdahl Gados, all of Colorado Springs, CO; granddaughter Rebecca Offerdahl Gados Moore (Jonathan) and great grandson Ewan Offerdahl Moore, all of Hemel Hempstead, England; brother D. Thomas Offerdahl (Lois) of Monona; and special friend Ruth Paulson of Stoughton. He was preceded in death by his wife Dolores, son Robert, and brothers Vernon and Glen.

The family is planning a Celebration of Life service at Covenant Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wisconsin on Friday, May 17th at 11:00 a.m. Inurnment will be at Norway Grove Memorial Lutheran Church Cemetery in Deforest.

Please view our beloved Nordeen Offerdahl’s memorial at www.swan-law.com