Daniel Vinge

Daniel Jonathan Vinge was born Sept. 25, 1926 to Rev. Albert and Edna Vinge in Tribune Saskatchewan. Growing up on the Canadian prairies offered a childhood filled with many friends and close families centered around Christian faith. After attendance at both the Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute and Camrose Lutheran College, he graduated the University of Saskatchewan in 1950 and Luther Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1951. He and his wife, Marie, were called by the Evangelical Lutheran Church to serve as missionaries in Japan and were the first missionaries who had received their entire education in Canada. After serving in Japan from 1951 to 1957, mostly in Shizuoka, he served parishes near Larimore, North Dakota and Mission City, British Columbia, Canada. Then he entered the residency program for Pastoral Care at Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1965. He was the interim pastor at Vision of Glory Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Minnesota until he received a call to specialized ministry as the first full time chaplain and director of pastoral care at Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, WI in 1968. During his tenure, he developed a broad ecumenical staff and services, and along with other staff established programs in chemical dependency, ethics, continuing education for clergy including an ongoing clergy / medical staff dialogue capped off with a full time clinical pastoral education program in 1986. During many of those years, he also served Bells Coulee Lutheran Church, Bangor, WI on a part time basis. He was recognized by the Franciscan Sisters for his ecumenical work with the Iverson - Freking Ecumenical Award for community service in 1988. He retired from chaplaincy in 1991, then was the interim pastor for Blair Lutheran Church, Blair, WI and finally as a part time visitation pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN. After serving 23 years as a chaplain in the La Crosse, Wisconsin area, he often met people in public who had crossed paths with him during his ministry there. His life and ministry was marked by continuing education, reconciliation, and compassion. He passed away peacefully on Friday, July 25. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marie (nee Gronlund), children, Carmen (Rev. Tom - dec.) Lewis, Mark (Ronna) Vinge, Carol (Dave) Cumming, Steve (Carole Anne Broad) Vinge, 11 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, as well as siblings Albert (Dorothy) Vinge, Joel (Sheila) Vinge, Vangie (Brault Kelpin) Bergum, and Mark (Bonnie) Spence-Vinge and many cousins. He was preceded in death by daughter Grace, his parents Albert and Edna (Bergum) Vinge, brother Joel Vinge (I), sister Dorothy (Harold) Engen, and granddaughter Elizabeth Vinge. A memorial service will be held at Grace Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 2.Memorials preferred to Grace Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN, ELCA Global Mission, Operation Bootstrap Africa, and the Gundersen Medical Foundation.