Farewells

James Albert Ellefson, 64, passed away on March 2nd, 2026. James worked a variety of positions at Carleton, including security and maintenance for nearly twenty years. He was a dedicated and proud husband, father, and grandfather and a source of dependability, support, and strength to his entire family. After working at Carleton, he became the owner and operator of Cannon Valley Rental and Dakota Car Wash.

A celebration of James’ life will be held from 1-4pm on March 14 at the Bierman, Benson, and Langehough Funeral Home. James will be laid to rest at the Highview Christiania Cemetery near Farmington and will be dearly missed. More information about James can be found through his obituary.

Dale E. Quist passed away on January 17, 2026 at his home in Crosslake, MN. He was 92. Between 1970 and 1979, he served at various times as coaches of Carleton’s football, baseball, and basketball teams, as well as the Assistant Professor of Physical Education for Men. Dale was a star athlete at Northfield High School and the University of Minnesota in the 1950s. In addition to coaching at Carleton, he served as the head football coach at Shattuck and was inducted into the Northfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Dale and Betty built a home on Circle Lake and he had a successful business career in Northfield and Dundas. To learn more about Dale’s life and plans for a memorial service, please explore his obituary.

Edward Leon Sostek, Carleton Professor of English and Theater Arts, passed away November 21, 2025. Teaching from 1969 to 1996, Sostek was known for having directed dozens of plays for the Carleton Players troupe. Students remember him as “a beloved director, teacher, and mentor,” a “vibrant, kind and thoughtful man,” and “one of the true Carleton greats.” He will be deeply missed.

A final Friday Happy Hour celebration of Ed’s life will be held at Severance Great Hall on the Carleton College campus in Northfield, Minnesota on Friday, May 22, 3pm – 7pm. All are welcome.  We invite you to read his obituary here.

Marlene Bresnahan, age 86 of Northfield, passed away on December 19, 2025 after fighting a long battle with kidney failure. Marlene served on the custodian team at Carleton from 1985 to 1999. Together with her beloved husband of 63 years, Marlene was a woman of faith and active in the church. She loved to spend time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, especially playing cards and watching old films. She was a fierce fan of the Timberwolves and Twins. According to her loved ones, “she was the kindest person you could meet and truly loved everyone. She always greeted everyone with a smile and said thank you, even on her hardest days.” We invite you to read her obituary here.

Joyce A. Hughes ’61 passed away November 13th, 2025. Hughes served as a trustee of Carleton College from 1969 to 1994. In 2001, she was elected Trustee Emerita and was awarded by the college an Honorary Doctor of Laws for her body of work.

Hughes served on the faculty of Northwestern Law School, teaching and mentoring students for over 40 years. Devoted to family, faith, and the daily reading of the New York Times, her sudden humor, probing conversations, stubborn resolve, selfless pragmatism and unconditional love are already missed. Celebration of Joyce’s singular life will be announced in Spring.

For more information on Hughes’ life, we invite you to explore her obituary.

Robert Hazard Edwards, the President of Carleton College from 1977 to 1986, died on November 30th, 2025 at the age of 90.

Edwards was a graduate of Princeton and Harvard, and he arrived at Carleton from the Ford Foundation. During his tenure, the college launched an innovative program, “Science, Technology, and Public Policy” (which evolved to be the current Environmental Studies program), and Gould Library was remodeled and expanded. ACT (Acting in the Community Together, now part of the Center for Community and Civic Engagement) was established to coordinate volunteering between students and volunteer programs. Bob Edwards was appointed President Emeritus by the Carleton Board of Trustees in October 2011.

Nancy Soth, age 91, died peacefully in her sleep in the early morning on October 8 at a memory care residence in Madison, Wisconsin. Nancy was a part of the Carleton College community professionally as administrator of the China Program from 1993 – 2000, adding coordinator of Japanese business residency to her portfolio in 1999. As a volunteer, Nancy contributed 117 oral history interviews with faculty, staff and alumni from 1992 to 2017 for the Carleton Archives. She was a fixture of both the Carleton and Northfield communities as a friend, confidante and celebrated party-giver for a half century.

Marilyn Jean Hill passed away on November 3, 2025 at age 93. Marilyn served many roles at Carleton, including Associate Director of the Career Center (1989-1997), Director of Placement (1980-1989), Director of Placement & Associate Director of Student Futures (1973-1980), Assistant Director of Career Counseling & Placement (1969-1973), Assistant to the Director of Placement Services (1964-1969), and Secretary to Faculty in Scoville Hall (1963-1964).

Marilyn was known as a passionate advocate for the hiring of Carleton students, traveling to corporate headquarters around the country, as well as to CIA headquarters, the Pentagon and an aircraft carrier, to Hollywood studios and investment banks in New York City. Funeral services for Marilyn will be held at 11am on November 12, 2025, at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. Further information can found in her obituary.

Ted Vessey, age 87 of Northfield, passed away peacefully and painlessly on Thursday evening, August 28, 2025. Beginning in 1970, Ted served as a Professor of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science at St. Olaf College until his retirement in 2005. In his retirement he taught part-time at Carleton for six years, a role for which he was very proud.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00PM, on Sunday September 7, 2025, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Northfield. Visitation will begin at 1:00PM and a reception will follow the service. Interment will be in Oaklawn Cemetery. For his obituary and more information about Ted’s life, please follow this link here.

David Davis-Van Atta passed away on July 26, 2025. He was 79. David was a Carleton alum (class of 1972), step-parent to David Startup (class of 1999), and the Director of Institutional Research and Analysis from 1995-2007. He will be dearly missed.

Information regarding his service and obituary can be found online here.