Obituary of Albert J. Lund Jr.

Albert (Bert) J. Lund Jr., loved and appreciated by family, friends, and former students, went to heaven on January 29, 2023, at age 92. We will miss his unswerving dedication to our family, guiding example, leadership, and (sometimes corny) sense of humor.

Bert was born on February 8, 1930, in Portland to Albert and Bertha Lund. An only child, he grew up on Portland’s east side, usually in homes near his father’s auto repair shop. The small family regularly attended Grant Park Baptist Church. Bert was an adept student and skipped two half-years during grade school. He played French horn in the Grant High School band and orchestra, appearing in all-state and all-Northwest bands, and was a pitcher on the baseball team. In 1947, he enrolled at Willamette University, where he continued to play music and baseball. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1951 and earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Portland in 1956.

Bert began his teaching career with two years at Stanfield High School in eastern Oregon, followed by a year each at Scio and Gervais. He taught students from high school to grade school in a variety of subjects: band, chorus, geography, math, English, and his specialty, history. In 1956, he moved to Eugene for a job at Wilson Junior High, where he taught social living (history and English) for the next eleven years. In 1967 he switched to Jefferson Junior High, where he taught social studies and served as department chair until retiring in 1985 after 33 years as an educator.

In August 1957, Bert began dating a fellow Willamette alum who would become the love of his life: Betty Leonard. He remembered her from a play she was in when they were students. They married on June 29, 1958, and spent the rest of their lives in Eugene. Their first son, Jim, was born in 1960, and second son, Dave, arrived in 1962. Bert treasured the four grandchildren that eventually followed: Emily, Erik, Sonja, and Peter. Bert and Betty were happily married for 51 years until her death in 2010.

Always active, Bert was a founding member of Asbury United Methodist Church in Eugene and directed the choir there for 10 years before the family moved across town in 1969 and began attending First United Methodist Church. Bert loved music and softball. He played in the Eugene Community Orchestra (46 years), Emerald Chamber Players (25 years), Fifth Element wind quintet (11 years), and Riverside Chamber Symphony (10 years), among other groups. He sang in the Eugene Gleemen men’s chorus on and off over the course of more than 50 years, and in church choirs for 65 years. He played senior softball for 21 years, sometimes on three teams in the same season.

Bert enjoyed traveling, visiting Europe, Australia, the Panama Canal, Alaska, and Canada. Some trips were tours with the Gleemen; all included Betty. Bert especially loved the coast and walks on the beach, and he delighted in visits to the family vacation home in Seaside for over 60 years.

Bert’s memorial service will be at Eugene’s First United Methodist Church, 1 p.m., March 18.