Rev. Laurel (Bud) Lindberg of Edina, who after a childhood accident had his own share of hardship, was a caring pastor who helped minister to those in need at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.
Lindberg, 85, died unexpectedly Nov. 8 in Edina.
"Bud was a parishioner's pastor. He cared for people. He was so radiant in spirit and he was energetic," said Rev. Paul Youngdahl, Mount Olivet's senior pastor. "He was a man of many hugs." said Youngdahl.
When Lindberg was 7, he had climbed a tree on his family's farm in Dresser, Wis., to collect a bird's nest for his little brother. He grabbed a power line, losing three fingers on his left hand, and damaging his right hand.
Eight years ago, a nurse asked him for help with a patient, a boy with injuries similar to Lindberg's.
"The boy asked, 'Can you play football?'" said Lindberg's wife, Nancy. Then the child asked, "Can you make a basket?" Lindberg hadn't played much basketball, but he headed to the gym with the boy, "praying all the way that he would make a basket." He sank the shot, and the boy was ecstatic.
At Gustavus Adolphus College, he served as a student preacher, hitchhiking to area churches. He also played guard and tackle on the Gusties' football team.
After graduation in 1947, he worked as a student preacher at Mount Olivet and attended Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He completed seminary in Illinois, and was ordained in 1951. He served parishes in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.; Fargo, N.D.; and Spokane, Wash. Youngdahl sought him out in 1976.
