Established on 12.25.2022 by Stanley W. and Jeannette A. Bakke †
Stan and Jeannette Bakke graduated from Wheaton College, IL, in 1961 and married that summer. Stan was in ROTC and served as an Officer in the U.S. Army Finance Corps for two years. Jeannette taught elementary school.
In the fall of 1963, Stan started a four-year graduate study program at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He received an MBA in 1966 and a J.D. in 1967. Jeannette taught elementary school until 1966 and completed an M.S. degree at Cornell University in 1967.
Stan practiced law for ten years including six years at Medtronic and then worked in Public Finance at Dain Bosworth for seventeen years.
Jeannette was a Fellow at the University of Minnesota developing math and science curricula for elementary schools. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1975. Jeannette taught at Bethel Seminary for about twenty years. She holds a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Shalem Institute in Washington D.C. and is the author of, “Holy Invitations: Exploring Spiritual Direction” which has been translated into Chinese and Korean. She continues to teach at Christos Center for Spiritual Formation and offer Spiritual Direction. She is ordained by the Baptist General Conference.
Stan and Jeannette have enjoyed traveling to more than fifty countries.
In 1983 Dr. Vercel and Marcia Fuglestad invited us to join them and other church friends for the Concordia Christmas Concert in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall. That was the first of every Concordia Christmas Concert up to the present that we have attended except for COVID-19 interruptions in 2020.
The annual concert was a worship experience and became the announcement of the beginning of the Christmas season and its many-layered depths of meaning. The combination of multiple choirs and the exquisite background murals embodied the beauty and joy of the coming of Christ.
Our second significant connection with Concordia College is through our niece, my younger brother’s daughter. After her junior year at Concordia, our niece was joined by her friend from Oslo, Norway, so they could spend the year together in a “normal” educational environment and discern their future. Soon after graduation, they married.
When the opportunity was presented to us, we decided to leave a legacy to the Concordia College music department because we have a great appreciation for their superb music performances and educational opportunities.
We pray that our gift, added to many others’ gifts, will enable Concordia College to continue with music that is ministry.
The purpose of the Stanley and Jeannette Bakke Endowed Fund for Music is to strengthen and sustain the mission and vision of Concordia College by establishing a fund that will support the annual Concordia Christmas Concert and other needs of the music department.
† - Testamentary endowments may not be contributed to until they are fully established.