NB Alumni Association honors three for lifetime achievement

The North Branch High School Alumni Association formed in 1992 with an early mission of supporting post-secondary education for graduating seniors by issuing scholarships. The association has awarded more than 100 scholarships and will add another 13 for this Vikings class of 2014. The group introduced another chapter to its legacy this year, honoring North Branch High School alumni who built exemplary professional and civic careers after high school.

During the presentation of those Lifetime Achievement Awards on May 21, in the Chisago County Community Center, Alumni Association President Dan Forschler (class of 1964) joked he would never expect to join a hall of fame for academics or professionals. “I was a C student in high school,” he said. Forschler added he was “really humbled” to lead the recognition event honoring alumni Thor Bergstralh (class of 1932), John Holum (1946) and Galen Britz (1957).

Thor Bergstralh born in 1915, is deceased, but son Jay Bergstralh of Williamsburg, Va., represented his father and their family in accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award in North Branch last week. Following his graduation from North Branch as valedictorian in 1932, Thor Bergstralh gave three years of service in the Civilian Conservation Corps before attending Carleton College on a scholarship. He completed a bachelor of science degree in physics at Carleton in 1940 before moving to a master’s program in nuclear physics at the University of Minnesota.

He entered the Navy in 1944 after his graduate work, and was involved in atomic bomb development during the “Manhattan Project” (1941). Later he was active in missile and rocket research among other pursuits over more than 10 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was instrumental in capturing the first photographic images of Earth from space, and he developed the Moon Ranger Hard Lander that NASA debuted for lunar travel in 1962. He worked in guidance and control management in the aerospace industry, in San Bernardino, Calif., from 1963 to 1972. North Branch graduates will recall Bergstralh was their commencement speaker in 1958.

John Holum graduated as valedictorian from North Branch in 1946. He earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from St. Olaf College in 1950. He finished a Ph.D. in organic chemistry through the University of Minnesota in 1954 and he trained with the Army Chemical Corps in 1955. He became a chemist with Eastman Kodak in 1955 before turning to the classroom. He held titles at Pacific Lutheran College and at the University of Maryland before a professorship in chemistry at Augsburg College from 1959 to 1993. Holum served as an associate professor with the National Science Foundation in 1962 and 1963. He was frequently asked to address the American Chemical Society (from 1965 to 1992) and he published papers, textbooks and other reference works through 2000. He served also as president of the Association of Lutheran College Faculties from 1964 to 1965. He addressed North Branch graduates at their commencement in 1967.

Galen Britz was proud to be honored as the first Eagle Scout from local Boy Scout Troop 141 before graduating as salutatorian from North Branch in 1957. He was active in football, basketball and band, and he was the school’s first student-athlete in the state golf meet. He entered the Army Reserve immediately after high school and served for six years. A bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota was earned in 1961 and later a master of science and Ph.D. in the field from Iowa State University. He worked and held several management roles at 3M from 1966 to 1999, working in product development, statistical consulting, quality assurance and plant process engineering. Britz received an annual Lifetime Quality Achievement Award from 3M, and he co-wrote “Statistical Thinking for Engineers.” He has been an active leader and volunteer in Lions Clubs International and served as his church congregational president.

He has been a board member for Friends of Africa Education since 2001 and made five mission trips to Kenya and Tanzania. Nominations are open for the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award induction to be recognized by the North Branch High School Alumni Association. The committee is seeking nominees who have been out of high school for 25 years or more (class of 1990 or earlier). Nominations will be due March 1, 2015, along with three letters of recommendation and a nominee photo. Nomination forms may be downloaded from the website northbranchalumni. org. The association also accepts email at NBalumni@ yahoo.com and maintains a page on Facebook. The strong leaders who are honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award will further be recognized with plaques to be displayed near the “Athletic Wall of Fame” outside of the high school gymnasium. Alumni Association members invite all North Branch alumni to attend their next annual meeting 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, at the Perkins restaurant in North Branch.