Paul Martinson 09/26/2020

Paul Martinson, age 92, died Saturday, September 26, 2020 at his home. Paul was born December 24th, 1927 to Oscar and Winifred Martinson, after they had lost their first three children to death in infancy. He was educated in New Richland, MN where he participated in all their sports, music and drama activities. A month after his 17th birthday, in 1944, he enlisted in the army. After HS graduation, the program gave him college courses until his 18th birthday when he took his basic training at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Thirteen months were spent in Japan, where he worked with clean-up and reconstruction after the war.
In 1947, he entered St. Olaf College. After his degree, he entered law school at the Uof M. From the time of his confirmation, he had considered God’s call to ministry. In August of 1953, he enrolled at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. That same fall he met Ann Payfer, who became his wife the following August.
He interned at Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill in St. Paul. His first call was to Lakeview Lutheran in Maplewood. During the seven years there, four children were born and they quickly had a household full of life and activity. In ’64, the family moved to Owatonna where Paul accepted a position as Youth and Education pastor. During this time, he applied for a Lutheran World Federation scholarship to study staff relations in the German churches. He spent time in Hannover, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Munich and Stuttgart. The rest of the family lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he joined them for the second half of the year. He did post-graduate studies there. In the summer of ’68 and the spring of ’69, the family camped in Scotland, England, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France.
In 1969 the family moved to Montevideo, MN where Paul served nine years at Trinity Lutheran. They served another nine years at Zion Lutheran in Arlington, MN. During these years, two wonderful exchange students came to live with them, Christine Baader from Nuremberg and Torgeir Tajet. Torgeir, along with his wife and children have become an integral part of the family with frequent contact and many visits back and forth to Norway.
Ann and Paul have not only been blessed with four wonderful children; joining the family are Ranjit Bhagyam, Paula’s husband and their three children, Theo, Andrew and Chella; Kent married Kris and they have two children, Melinda and Travis; Ron has blessed us with two grandchildren, Katie and Spencer as well as his wife, Karen Haagenson and Dean married Nancy Wilson and Madeline became the eighth grandchild.
Ann and Paul have had a deep partnership and friendship. They have been a good team for 66 years as they’ve grown more deeply in love and service of their Lord. They’ve served on 13 teams together with Via de Cristo. After retirement, Paul served 12 interims: in Gaylord, Winthrop, Springfield and Luther Memorial of South St. Paul, all of MN, He also served interims in Hayward twice, Redeemer in Burkhardt, Christ Luth.in Somerset, First Baptist of Hudson, twice, and Joy Lutheran in Prescott – all in Wisconsin.
Hobbies included stained glass, weaving, horses, biking, hunting and fishing.
He thanks God, the creator for breathing life into him, Christ for saving him and the Holy Spirit for His prodding, nudging and challenging him. He thanks his hundreds of friends and parishioners who gave him their love and their ‘thumb’s up’ to life’s challenges. The rest of us thank God for Paul’s unending spirit of love and enthusiasm for serving people of every lifestyle and culture. It has been a great ride for Paul. The end has come but there is a new beginning; a life with no sorrows, no sadness, only fantastic joy.
A memorial service was live-streamed at bethelhudson.org or on Facebook, enter blchudson at the search space at the top of the page. Then, Click on the live-stream video at 2 PM on Sunday, October 4th. Cremation Services provided by Bakken-Young Funeral & Cremation Services.