Arnulf Ueland

A longtime Mankato area resident and civic leader, Arnulf Ueland, Jr., age 84, of North Mankato died of pneumonia on Thursday, July 15, 2004, at Immanuel St. Josephs Hospital in Mankato.

Memorial services will be held at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, July 25, 2004, at First Congregational UCC of Mankato with Rev. Albert H. Thompson III officiating. A private burial will be held at Woodlawn Cemetery in Winona, MN. Mankato Mortuary is handling arrangements.

Arnulf Jr., the son of Arnulf and Louise (Nippert) Ueland, was born in St Paul on June 21, 1920, in his maternal grandparents house. He graduated from West High School, Minneapolis, in 1938. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1943, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

He married Rebecca Prentiss Lucas on October 29, 1943 in Winona, Minnesota, shortly before reporting for sea duty.

He served on LST 336 transporting troops and equipment during World War II. He participated in the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944, and on-going Operation Overlord. He later served in the Pacific theater. After the War, he remained in the U.S. Navy Reserve and retired after twenty years of service.

Known to friends as Arnie, he moved to Mankato in 1950 with his wife, Beccy. He worked for Hayes-Lucas Lumber Company, until he opened his own wholesale business, Ueland Lumber Sales, Inc. He had been active in numerous Mankato civic organizations including the Elks Club, Mankato Symphony, American Legion, and the Mankato Rotary Club.

Arnie was on the Mankato Planning Commission. Later he became Mayor of North Mankato and was elected for two terms to the Minnesota State Senate. He actively supported the Republican Party, holding several local and Second District leadership positions and attending national conventions.

After his retirement, he and his wife enjoyed going to race tracks, owning and racing their own thoroughbred horses at Canterbury Park.

Arnie loved his dogs, travel, photography, Mozart, playing the flute, German drinking songs, pickled herring, lutefisk, Norwegian jokes, history, reading, goin fishin, the family cabins at Big Sand Lake, playing cards at the Mankato Golf Club, U of M Gopher football, birds and other wildlife.

Above all, he loved his family, his friends, his country, and the Navy.

Last year, Arnie and Beccy celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in their home with a large circle of friends and relatives.

He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, of North Mankato; four children, Christopher Ueland and his wife, Joan, of Minnetonka, MN, Erica Ueland, of San Diego, CA, Andreas Ward Ueland, of San Diego, CA, Arnulf Tor Ueland and his wife, Susan, of San Diego, CA; four grandchildren, Justin Christopher Ueland and his wife, April, Erik John Ueland, Catherine Rebecca Ueland, Jackson Michael Ueland; sister, Andrea and her husband, Dr. John Brainard, of St. Paul; many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents and his dogs.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Blue Earth County Historical Society, Minnesota Orchestral Association, or Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund, P.O. Box 18470, Encino, CA 91416.