Erling and Margaret Wold Family Scholarship

Erling and Margaret (Marge) Wold were a part of CLC from its very inception. The signature of the Rev. Erling Wold, one of CLC’s Founding Fathers, is preserved for posterity on the 1957 document that brought California Lutheran Educational Foundation (the forerunner of California Lutheran College) into existence.

The Wolds made a huge impact both together and individually. Erling was a graduate of Luther College in Iowa, Luther Seminary in Minnesota and Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary in Illinois, Ordained in 1942, he retired from congregational ministry in 1985, having served churches in Texas, Illinois, North Dakota and California. He also served on the faculty of Luther College and as vice president of the South Pacific District, American Lutheran Church.

Dr. Marge Wold was not one to sit idle while her husband served the Church. Her three honorary doctorates attest to a life of service. She also graduated from Luther College and accompanied Erling to Chicago Lutheran Seminary to earn a master’s degree. As a true partner in ministry, she organized and opened nursery schools at the churches where they served. In her “spare” time, Marge loved to write and authored ten books. She was also influential at the national level of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), at one time holding the title of executive director. Marge helped make it possible for women to be ordained as pastors in the Lutheran Church. She and Erling enjoyed 57 years of marriage together and raised five children—four sons and a daughter.

In 1985 the Wolds came to the campus of CLU to serve as senior mentors. They made an immediate impact simply because they loved the students and the students loved them back. Erling’s activities were somewhat restricted by physical problems related to a 1972 body surfing accident in which he had broken his neck and been hospitalized for nine weeks. At one point he was totally paralyzed and given a two percent chance of recovery. But one year later to the day he was able to his pastorate in Garden Grove.

When the Wolds left their senior mentor stint at CLU in 1995, they moved to Walnut Manor in Anaheim where they had many friends. After Erling passed away in December 1999, Marge maintained her residence at Walnut Manor. In late 2008 she burned herself with a hot cup of tea and endured skin graft with a rather lengthy recovery period. During this time her daughter Kristi was her guardian angel. Marge used her recuperation as a time to complete her book, A Girl Grows in Old Chicago: Memories from the Heart of the Girl Grown Old.

It was back when the Wolds were CLU senior mentors that they decided to create the Erling and Margaret Wold Family Scholarship as part of their legacy. Their interests were many, but due in part to Marge’s love of the fine arts they ultimately chose drama as the focus of the scholarship.