Hugo Flaig

Rev. Hugo Flaig, long-time UCC minister, died Sunday, July 11, 2004, surrounded by his family at Immanuel-St. Joseph's Hospital. He was 82.

Hugo was born on Feb. 4, 1922, in Fredonia, ND, the son of Daniel and Karolina (Ensslen) Flaig. He went to elementary school in Fredonia, where his father ran the Chevrolet dealership, and later attended high school in nearby Kulm, ND. Hugo received his B.A. from Yankton (SD) College and its School of Theology in June 1943.

On Aug. 22, 1943, he married Freda Marie Lebsack in Crook, CO. The couple returned to Yankton, where Hugo received his bachelor of theology degree the following June.

Hugo served as minister in Congregational churches in Wisconsin, Illinois and South Dakota before moving in 1957 to Minnesota, where he served as minister for the First Congregational Church, UCC, in Little Falls.

In the mid-1960s, Hugo attended United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, MN, where he received bachelor and master of divinity degrees. From 1966 to 1973, he served as minister for the First Congregational Church, UCC, in Hastings, NE; this tour was followed one at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Scottsbluff, NE, until 1980.

From 1981 to 1987, he and Freda worked as managers of Kamp Kaleo, a UCC conference camp in Burwell, NE. Hugo retired from the church in 1987 after a distinguished career of service and faith.

Hugo loved flying, camping, traveling and repairing electronics of all sorts (which in recent years grew to include his passion for computing). He was an active HAM radio operator and member of several Civil Air Patrols in Minnesota and Nebraska. For many years, Hugo and his family spent summer vacations camping on Cass Lake in northern Minnesota. Later, he and Freda spent winters in McAllen, Texas, and summers "Up North" at their home on Pine Mountain Lake in Backus, MN. In recent years, illness limited his ability to travel, and they settled in Mankato, where they lived at Old Main Village.

Hugo Flaig is survived by his wife, Freda; one son, Kenton and family of Portville, NY; three daughters, Linda Amen and family of Roca, NE; Susan Lucks and family of Basalt, CO; and Cynthia Gaterud and family of Janesville, MN; and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sister, Leonita Moll, and brother, Ted.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday, July 13, at 3:30 p.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Mankato, the Rev. Al Thompson officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Hugo's name can be sent to the church or a charity of choice.

Mankato Mortuary is handling arrangements.