Category: Staff

Daniel (Dan) Stadler, 82, passed away on April 23, 2026. He served Carleton in many roles from 1982 to 2012, including Director of Housekeeping, Director of Custodial Services, Project Manager in Facilities, and Project Maintenance Manager. According to his obituary, Dan was “in his happy place as project manager overseeing repair of various houses on the campus and interacting with the faculty, staff and students. He was their “go-to” guy if they really needed something done.”

Dan was also featured as part of an oral history project through the Carleton archives in 2017.

A visitation in celebration of Dan’s life will be held from 3-7 PM, Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at Bierman, Benson & Langehough Funeral Home in Northfield.

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.

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.

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.

David Davis-Van Atta passed away on July 26, 2025. He was 75. 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.

Carole Engel, passed away June 1st, 2025, at the age of 79. Carole held many roles at Carleton, including as the Secretary to Associate Dean of the College (1980-1987), Coordinator of Special Projects & Events (1987-1988), Administrative Assistant to the Dean of the College (1988-1990), and as both Secretary and Administrative Assistant of the Music Department (1990-2014). She will be dearly missed.

A memorial service will be held at First Congregational Church in Cannon Falls on Friday, June 20 at 2:30 pm.

Roberta Anne “Robbie” Groth (Lucking), age 70, of Northfield, passed away surrounded by her family on Friday morning, May 9th, 2025; after fighting a courageous battle against Ovarian Cancer, for 16 years. Robbie served in a variety of roles at Carleton from 2003-2016, including as the Office and Administrative Assistant in the Business Office, the Program Assistant in the Academic Support Center, and the Office Assistant in Residential Life.

To learn more about Robbie’s life, as well as details regarding her memorial service, we invite you to read her obituary here.

Louise Witman ’71, P78, age 98, of Northfield passed away on April 18, 2025. Louise was the secretary to the Dean of Students from 1971–1978 and then served as a library associate from 1978 until she retired in 1991. Louise is survived by her son George Witman ’78, her niece Jan Spencer Witman ’80, and other family members. Louise was married to Hank Witman, who worked in Carleton Admissions from 1969 until he retired in 1993.

To learn more about Louise, we invite you to view her obituary.