NORTHBROOK, IL (March 26, 2012) – A memorial service will be conducted in April for retired Evangelical Covenant Church pastor Howard H. Carlstrom, 88, who died Saturday at Covenant Village of Northbrook where he had lived for 13 years.
Visitation will be observed from 4 to 8 p.m. this Thursday, March 29, at the N.H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home, 1240 Waukegan Road in Glenview. A memorial service will be conducted on Saturday, April 7, beginning at 2 p.m. in the Fellowship Center Chapel at Covenant Village of Northbrook, 2625 Techny Road in Northbrook.
Carlstrom was born January 23, 1924, in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Ernest and Anna Carlstrom. He married Juene Pearl Forsman in 1946.
He graduated from North Park College in 1944 and from North Park Theological Seminary in 1949. He completed additional studies at Western Michigan University in philosophy and history. He was ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1953.
He completed a pastoral internship at the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church in Salem, South Dakota, and served congregations in Richland, Michigan; Ashtabula, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; St. Petersburg, Florida; Portage, Indiana; and Menominee, Michigan. He retired in 1990.
During his ministry, Carlstrom served in a number of Covenant leadership positions, including the Covenant Board of Benevolence; the Board of Managers of Covenant Palms in Miami, Florida; as chair of the Southeast Conference, and roles in the Central Conference on the Committee of Ministerial Standing, the Evangelism Committee, and as conference secretary.
Survivors include two children, Barbara Ann Carlstrom Beckstrom and Lester H. Carlstrom, as well as two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
More information will be published as it becomes available.
Howie Carlstrom not only was a remarkable pastor and good friend to the Youngman family, he definitely was in the Final Four of drollest Covenant pastors. Peace to his memory.
Howard welcomed me to the twin cities of Marinette and Menominee when we returned to Canada. He had made a point of introducing me to Juene a couple of years before when there was zero expectation that we would soon be living nearby. In addition to his public record as pastor and denominational leader, he was very good company–one of “the Lord’s merry men, who have consecrated mirth with the love of Christ.” (–from “An Expression of Joy and Humility” in The Daily Office.