Dr. Edward V. Voldseth, 86, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, died on December 18, 2008, of natural causes. Born in Harlowton, Montana on May 29, 1922, he was the son of Nels and Mina Voldseth. The family’s ranch on which he spent his boyhood was founded on the south fork of the Musselshell River west of Martinsdale, Montana in 1872 by his Norwegian immigrant maternal grandfather Martin T. Grande. His mother Mina was born in the silver mining town of Castle, Montana, in the Castle Mountains west of Martinsdale in 1889. His father Nels was born in the vicinity of Trondheim, Norway in 1887 and immigrated to Montana in 1907. Ed married Elizabeth (Betty) Settle, the daughter of local Martinsdale, Montana ranchers Edward and Nell Settle, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Billings, Montana on September 1, 1945.

Ed attended the rural grade school in Lennep, Montana. He graduated from Gallatin County High School in Bozeman, Montana. During his senior year, he received a superior rating as a pianist in competition with other high school pianists from five northwest states. He attended the University of Montana from which he received a B.A. degree in 1944. In the fall of 1945, he entered Columbia University in New York City and received an M.A. there in 1946. Ten years later, he began advanced graduate study at the University of Iowa where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Counseling and Guidance in 1958.

Ed was assistant dean of men and instructor of business administration at Carroll College, Waukesha, Wisconsin for three years, 1946-49. In 1949, he became director of student affairs for men (dean of men) at Drake University in Des Moines and held that position for seven years until commencing study for his doctorate at the University of Iowa. After receiving the Ph.D., he accepted a position as dean of students at the University of Alaska and served there for six years until returning to Iowa in 1964 as dean of students at the University of Northern Iowa. He was subsequently named vice president for university relations and development in 1970, and assistant to the president for state relations in 1974. For fourteen years prior to his retirement in 1987, Voldseth served with representatives of the University of Iowa and Iowa State University as a trio that jointly promoted the proposals of the State Board of Regents to the Iowa General Assembly. Ed was highly regarded by his colleagues on the campus and by legislators for his quick wit and gentlemanly demeanor. He was often called upon to preside at campus and community functions. Following his retirement from UNI in 1987, he and his wife continued to make their home in Cedar Falls.

Ed was active in local, state and national boards of the Episcopal Church while living in Alaska and Iowa. He served as a board member of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois for a decade. He was elected by the voters of Cedar Falls to a six-year term on the board of Sartori Memorial Hospital in 1987 and became chairman of the board in 1991. He served as a member of the board of directors of Cedar Falls Savings and Loan Association for many years. Following that association’s merger with American Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines, he became a member of the American Federal board.

Ed was a long-time “Life Master” of the American Contract Bridge League. Ed’s memberships include the Rotary Club of Cedar Falls of which he served as president in 1970-71; Sigma Chi Fraternity, and the Des Moines Club of which he was a member during the years he served as a lobbyist for the Regents and UNI.

Widely traveled, Ed and Betty have visited various parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and South America, as well as Canada, Mexico, many Caribbean countries, and all of the United States except Maine and Rhode Island. During seven trips to England and Scotland, they have visited a total of 20 cathedrals of the Church of England.

Ed is survived by his wife, their two sons: Nels (Kim) of Houston, TX and John (Willa) of Martinsdale, MT, two daughters: Karen (Michael) Schoville of Johnston, and Kristin Voldseth of Cedar Falls, and four grandchildren: Eric (Shasta) Locke of Waterloo and Elizabeth Locke of Denver, CO, Anne Schoville of Urbandale, and Ellen Schoville of Iowa City, and one great grandson Steven Robert Locke. Other survivors include an older brother, Norman Voldseth of Martinsdale, MT and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and an older brother, George Voldseth.