Deceased February 26, 2020
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In Memory
David came to Amherst from Fergus Falls in Minnesota, a town of about 15,000, three and a half hours northwest of Minneapolis.
Amherst recognized David’s writing ability early by awarding him the Armstrong Prize in composition. He majored in English and wrote his senior thesis on the critical reception of Robert Frost. He sang in the choir, glee club and chamber singers and was president of both the Philosophy Club and Phi Alpha Psi. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
David went on to Harvard Law School and worked three years as an army lawyer. During that time, he married Mary Watson (Wellesley ’59), whom he met when he was at Harvard.
David and Mary settled in Fergus Falls and raised three children. He joined a prominent law firm in town and soon became a partner. He withdrew in 1993 to a solo practice of estate planning and tax law.
The Lundeen family bookshop and printing business serviced the grain elevator communities throughout western Minnesota and the Dakotas. David was an active director and counsel to the business.
David was a leader in bringing a Minnesota community college to Fergus Falls, was instrumental in creating the Fergus Area College Foundation, served as the organizer and chair of the Lundeen Foundation to support local cultural initiatives and was a director and counsel for the local industrial development corporation. He chaired the Otter Tail County Bar Association and the tax section of the State Bar Association.
One hardship for David while he was east every fall was that he repeatedly missed duck, pheasant and grouse hunting season back home. So in his last year at Harvard, when we were apartment mates, he disappeared for a week and returned with a substantial supply of game birds for our pleasure.
Seth Dubin ’54