KARL
GUSTAV DAHLSTROM, 102
January 10, 2003
Karl Gustav Dahlstrom, 102, a carpenter
who worked for Anderson Brothers Furniture in Chicago
for 30 years and who spent almost every day of his adult life in a wood shop,
died Wednesday, Jan. 8, in Windsor
Park Manor in Carol
Stream of natural causes.
Born in Sweden, Mr. Dahlstrom came
to this country in 1924 with a
group of young men who all had hopes of being carpenters. The group settled
in Chicago and built an apartment building in Wrigleyville. In the Depression,
the group lost its money and Mr. Dahlstrom went to work for Anderson Brothers
Furniture, first as a salesman, then as the store's manager.
He met and married his wife, Lisa, in 1931 and the couple lived in Chicago, where
they were actively involved in the Lake View Evangelical
Free Church as Sunday school teachers. "My father retired
after 30 years, but he never really retired," said his daughter Carla Stough.
He went to work for hardware stores, his son's business, Dahlstrom
Display, and became the custodian
of the church.
When he moved to Wheaton in the late
'70s, Mr. Dahlstrom worked for the Evangelical
Alliance Mission as the caretaker and helped the missionaries ship their personal
items and materials in the crates he built himself. "Those crates withstood
the test of time," his daughter said. "And the missionaries would use
that wood to make their furniture or pulpits for churches or toys for their children.
"He never stopped working. He worked in the woodshop almost every day. Working
with wood was always important to him," his daughter said. She added that
it was his faith that sustained him. An active member of the Wheaton Evangelical
Free Church, Mr. Dahlstrom attended every Sunday until he was physically unable.
"Then he [attended] by radio,"
his daughter said.
His wife died in 1998. Mr. Dahlstrom is survived by another daughter, Karen Festa;
a son, Dick; six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Visitation will be
from 10 a.m. Saturday until the noon service in Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N.
Main St., Wheaton.
Copyright 2003 Chicago Tribune (registration required)
7:41:50 PM 
|
|
