This is a continuation of a contribution from a 80+ year member of Redeemer . . .
Redeemer Lutheran has been a big part of my life from the time I was born, but my roots go deeper than that. My maternal grandparents were ‘charter members’ signing on June 6, 1909. My mother started at Redeemer as a thirteen-year-old and became a member of the first confirmation class in 1910. About two years later my paternal grandparents and their family joined Redeemer. My mom and dad soon met at Redeemer as teenagers, and my father became the church organist (reed organ) before and after World War I. I had uncles and an aunt who were also confirmed at Redeemer. I grew up seeing many family confirmation pictures on the walls of my grandparents’ home. My parents, Evan and Esther Mindrum, married in 1921 in front of Rev. J. F. Marlatte. He started serving Redeemer in 1920.
My sister and I were born in 1924 and 1925 and were baptized in the older church. Soon the congregation was ready to build a new church building. I have two recollections of that time: one was the dedication of the excavation for the new church. I remember seeing that large hole, but down in the hole was my dad sitting at the reed organ which had been placed on the bed of a truck. The congregation gathered around that hole while the cornerstone was laid. My other memory that I shared with Bud Anderson (now deceased) and Bob Erickson, was of a Sunday morning when the congregation and the Sunday school moved to the new Redeemer Church. We all recalled each member of the Sunday school carrying a kid-size wooden chair walking the three blocks along Glenwood Avenue to our new church.
Growing up at Redeemer required two years of preparation for Confirmation. Every Saturday morning I would board the streetcar (yes, streetcar) for a half-hour ride to Redeemer for a two-hour class with Rev. Marlatte. Most of the kids lived near the church, but our family had moved to South Minneapolis. Since my dad was now playing the newly purchased Gates pipe organ, we stayed with Redeemer! Confirmation lasted for three Sundays: the first Sunday evening was for recitation, the second Sunday was for the Confirmation service, and the third Sunday was for our first communion. At this point we were asked to join the Luther League and the choir. Some of us did just that, and from those two organizations I formed lasting friendships and accumulated many memories.
World War II interrupted or activities but we maintained a choir of all female voices. Over 300 men and women from Redeemer were in the services of our country during that war. Some did not return. After the war we were no longer teenagers, and a new phase of life was beginning. There were college graduations, engagements and marriages. My sister and I met our future husbands about the same time, so we decided on a double wedding ceremony which was presided over by Rev. Marlatte, the same pastor who had married our parents, baptized and confirmed us. His work for our family didn’t stop there. He eventually baptized our four children and three of my sister’s four children. Pastor Marlatte passed away in 1963 after spending forty-three years at Redeemer.
My husband, John Hogan joined Redeemer sixty years ago and has been actively involved in the Sunday school, the church council, and the property committee. We both have served as council president a few times, and I have been council secretary man times, besides staying active with the women’s groups. We have seen many changes at Redeemer, but we’re anxious to see a new generation take over and hope that their experiences will be as rewarding for them as ours are to us. Many of our friendships made at Redeemer continue today, as do the memories of years gone by.
Marjorie Mendrum Hogan
