Retired Covenant pastor and superintendent of the Great Lakes Conference David Dahlberg died March 10, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was 93.
David was born on August 5, 1930, to parents Seymour and Florence (Jensen) Dahlberg
in New London, a small town in Minnesota.He was well known to everyone in town and could get anywhere he needed to go on his bike. As a young man, David worked in numerous jobs to earn money for college, including driving trucks or other heavy equipment for road construction, waiting tables, and painting. He loved music, took piano lessons, and played trumpet in the school band, occasionally also playing taps at funerals for the American Legion.
He graduated high school in 1948, then started at Macalester College in St. Paul; however, he soon felt God had different plans for him. He transferred to North Park Junior College in Chicago, then the University of Minnesota after that. After graduating in 1951, David took a one-year pastoral internship at Mission Covenant Church in Savonburg, Kansas, then served in several other Covenant churches in Minnesota, including Palmyra Covenant Church in Hector, Bethany Covenant Church in Stillwater, and the Covenant church in Excelsior. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1954; in June of 1957, David was ordained by the Evangelical Covenant Church.
On August 9, 1958, David married Carol Thompson Halling, and they had two children, Mark and Mary Kay. Together, David and Carol served several Covenant churches in pastoral ministry, including a church they planted in Fridley, Minnesota, and another church plant in Tinley Park, Illinois, followed by stops in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Jamestown, New York.
In 1978, David became the first superintendent of the newly renamed Great Lakes Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church (GLC), which resulted from merging the existing Michigan and Middle East conferences. During his years of service to the conference, he helped initiate the process of building what is now known as Covenant Living of the Great Lakes. The GLC currently maintains a tradition awarding individuals and churches for excellence in church vitality, known as the Dave Dahlberg Award.
David and Carol spent many of their retirement years together in Muskegon, Michigan, before eventually settling into Covenant Living of the Great Lakes and becoming members of First Covenant Church in Grand Rapids. David was known for his bear hugs and for wearing a wooden cross around his neck.
David was preceded in death by his wife, Carol and children Mark and Mary Kay. He is survived by his son-in-law, Robert Clausen; three granddaughters, and three great-grandsons.
A memorial service in his honor will be held at First Covenant Church in Grand Rapids on Friday, March 22, at 2 pm.
Peace to his memory.
