Allan Carlson

Allan Fredrick Carlson was born on July 31, 1938 in Duluth MN to Adolph and Nora Carlson.  Allan attended school in New York Mills   from second grade forward through graduation in 1956. After a short time at Gustavus Adolphus College, he enlisted in the US Army in 1957 and was stationed at a Nike site west of New York City.

 In 1960 he enrolled at St. Cloud State College where he met and married Karen Townsend. They had two children, Andrew and Amy. 

After graduation from college in 1965 he was employed by the Duluth School system.  He taught at Central High School for 32 years where he was the AV coordinator.  This involvement brought him to networking and installing computers at all Duluth schools.  During these years, Allan relaxed by canoeing with his good friend Bob Turner while exploring the BWCA wilderness.  

Allan and Karen were divorced in 1989 and he was briefly married to Evelyn Davis in 1991.  Upon his retirement from the Duluth School System, he moved to Bessemer MI and married Jodell Wick in 1997.  They sought assignments within the American Schools system which brought Allan the position of Librarian and Technology Coordinator at the American School in Karachi Pakistan from 1997 to 1999.  Later, he was the Librarian at the base school in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.   After his third retirement, he and Jodell spent several years on world travel and quiet life in the Upper Peninsula until her death in 2010. 

In 2012 he reunited with his childhood sweetheart Mary Hall with whom he recited commitment vows before Pastor John Krueger at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Rockport TX.  Until his death, they resided in New York Mills and spent several winters in Texas.  They enjoyed travels in Europe and the U.S. western states.

Allan passed away at Perham Health on April 29.  He is preceded by his parents, his sister Janice Strand, and his wives. 

Allan is survived by Mary (Tikkanen) Hall as well as Andrew (Rashika), their children Arya and Aiden, and Amy and her daughter Ella. 

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