Clarence A. Glasrud

Clarence A. Glasrud, 96, died on Friday, March 14, 2008, at his Moorhead home under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley."Soc" Glasrud was born October 15, 1911, in rural Cass County, North Dakota, to Claus and Anna Glasrud. After graduating from high school in Detroit Lakes, MN, he attended Moorhead Normal School now MSUM, graduating in 1934. He taught in high schools in Minnesota, at Pelican Rapids, Lake City, and Mankato, doing graduate work at the University of Minnesota during summers. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served in England, France, Belgium and Germany in World War II.When the war ended, he pursued his graduate studies at Harvard, interrupting them for three years to return and teach at his alma mater. In 1948, he married Barbara Adams Crawford. They returned to Harvard in 1950, where he was awarded his PhD. in English two years later.In 1952, he was named chairman of the English department at Moorhead State, a position he held for almost a quarter century. An avid tennis player, he also coached the college's tennis team.He authored the definitive biography of the Norwegian-American author Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen; The Age of Anxiety, a college text; and various works of Minnesota, regional and MSUM history, and numerous articles.Soc was a 57-year member of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Divine in Moorhead, often serving on the vestry and as a lay reader. He was a long-time member of the Moorhead Rotary Club. In retirement, he served on the Moorhead City Council and as president of the Clay County Historical Society. Sabbatical leaves and summers afforded the Glasruds opportunities for much in-depth world travel – frequently to Europe, but also to China, India, Southeast Asia and South America.Soc Glasrud is survived by his wife, Barbara; his son Charles and daughter-in-law Theodora Economou, of Morris, MN; grandson Joseph Glasrud and granddaughter Katherine Glasrud; and many nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by his parents and twelve siblings.