Orwin Rustad

Orwin A. Rustad, age 95, of Faribault, died Sunday, July 6, 2008 at St. Lucas Care Center in Faribault.             Funeral services will be held on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at the First English Lutheran Church in Faribault with the Rev. Richard L. Jorgensen, pastor officiating. Interment will be held at the Maple Lawn Cemetery, Faribault.             Visitation will be held at the church on Friday for one hour prior to services.             Memorials are preferred to the First English Lutheran Church or the River Bend Nature Center.             Arrangements are being completed by the Parker Kohl Funeral Home in Faribault.             Orwin Alexander Rustad, the son of Ole and Adeline (Sparstad) Rustad, was born on September 1, 1912 in Leon Township, Goodhue County, MN. He attended Faribault High School and graduated with the class of 1934. Later he attended St. Olaf College and graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. Orwin earned his Masters degree in Science Education from the University of Minnesota in 1953. Orwin also attended summer school for many years through the University of Minnesota in St. Paul and Duluth. He also studied at Cornell University and Oslo University in Norway. On September 8, 1946 he was united in marriage to Leona Giesler at the First English Lutheran Church in Faribault. Mrs. Rustad preceded him in death on June 25, 1993. It was in Norway that Orwin and Leona had a belated honeymoon, because of Orwin's schooling, and Leona was able to go with on all the field trips that were part of his class. Orwin taught Biology and Field Biology for 46 years at different schools including, Breck High School, 14 years, St. Olaf College, 5 years, and Shattuck-St. Mary's School, 27 years. Orwin was also the Campus Naturalist at Shattuck-St. Mary's since his retirement in 1988. Orwin's passion was being a Naturalist and observing animals, birds and plant life. Because of this passion Orwin's dream of a nature center was approved as an official project of the Bi-Centennial Committee of Faribault on Feb. 4, 1975. After many years of grass root endeavor, River Bend Nature Center was incorporated August 14, 1979 and dedicated September 21, 1980. Orwin is known as the "Father of the River Bend Nature Center" and on the day of its dedication, the entrance road was named Rustad Road in his honor. Countless numbers of people have benefited from his dream. Orwin received many awards over his career including being elected to the Cum Laude Society at Shattuck-St. Mary's, the Service to Mankind Award from the Faribault Sertoma Club, the Bicentennial Hall of Fame Award from the City of Faribault, WCCO Good Neighbor Award, the Meritorious Service Award from the Association of Interpretive Naturalists, the Book of Golden Deeds from the Faribault Exchange Club, the Honorary Scroll Award from the Faribault Jaycees and the dedication of the Shattuck-St. Mary's School Orwin A. Rustad Outdoor Classroom-Nature Trails. One of Orwin's hobbies was bird banding which he did for 47 years. Several interesting banding reports were received over the years, including a Great Blue Heron and a Bank Swallow, both banded in this area were captured in Columbia, South America.             Orwin is survived by a nephew, Stanley (Adela) Rustad of Waconia, MN and by three nieces, Mary (Jim) Parker of Colorado, Marilyn (Fred) Halverson of St. Paul and Kay Kleven of Rosemount, MN and other relatives and many friends.             He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, one sister, Cora Rustad and four brothers, Andrew, Adolph, Carl and Rudy Rustad.