LDS French Professor Karl Sandberg Dies
Prominent St. Paul LDS Church member and professor of French at St. Paul's Macalester College died Wednesday in St George, Utah of complications from diabetes. Sandberg, who taught at Duke, the University of Arizona and the University of Minnesota in addition to 24 years on the faculty of Macalester, was 69.
While Sandberg had taken one or two French classes in high school, his life-long study of French started with a call to serve in the LDS Church's French mission in the years following World War II. He left France following his mission determined to know more about the language, culture and history of the country.
Sandberg was also known for his love of ideas. His colleague, Macalester French professor Virginia Schubert says his interests were diverse, "He loved the movement of ideas, the great sweep of ideas and using those ideas to explain the relationship between God and man. He was engaged in the great questions that faced humanity but not in a doctrinaire way. And always, he taught with a lot of wit and humor.''
But Schubert adds that Sandberg brought his knowledge back to bear on the gospel. "Karl felt a need to ponder the gospel of Christ and to help others ponder it,'' said Steven Pusey, who was Sandberg's Bishop in St. Paul in the 1970s. "His contributions were great but not always public. He had a good Christian heart, a noble soul.'' But Sandberg did share his knowledge with other Mormons, writing several articles and reviews for Dialogue and participating at the Sunstone Symposium. His knowledge and teaching skill also made him a popular teacher among the LDS congregations in St Paul.
Professionaly, Sandberg was known for his textbook "French for Reading: A Programmed Approach,'' a favorite among graduate students studying for their final exams. He also wrote "Le Nouveau Passe-Muraille,'' with Virginia Schubert, and more than 35 other books and articles.
But throughout his professional success, he didn't neglect his family. His son David Sandberg says, "We had a remarkable childhood. Dad was very much involved with the family."
Clark D. Morphew
4-28-00
