Willis Eben Dahlman

Willis Eben Dahlman, 95, of Cambridge, MN entered into heaven on May 3, 2024.

Willis was born December 30, 1928 to Eben and Verna Dahlman in Braham, MN and grew up on the four-generation family homestead just outside Grandy, MN. As a young boy during the Great Depression he helped gather the eggs that his dad, Eben, would bring to the Twin Cities to sell. Disliking the chore of carrying wood to the house, he devised easier ways, giving the first suggestion of engineering goals for him.  Commuting from Grandy in a Model A, he graduated from Cambridge High School in 1946, then attended Bethel College for two years.  He transferred to the University of MN to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering.  During these years, he commuted to classes from his aunt’s south Minneapolis home on a scooter that he designed and fabricated from scratch.

As a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Willis was stationed in Tiburon and Long Beach, CA. Aboard the minesweeper USS Conflict, Willis’ role was to oversee the testing and certification of an air bubbling system that prevented the transmission of sound which might otherwise trigger underwater mines.

Willis met Adeline (Lyn) at Intervarsity Christian Fellowship while attending the U of M and they were married on November 28, 1953. After their son Bruce was born and he had completed military service, they returned to Spring Lake Park where daughter Lorene was added to the family. In 1962 the family returned to Isanti County, where they lived on Paul’s Lake south of town.

They became members of First Baptist Church where Willis added his clear tenor voice to the choir as a lifetime member, was a regular participant in the “Old” Men’s Quartet, and sang with the East Central Chorale from its inception.  As classical music lovers, Willis and Lyn enjoyed regular trips with friends to the Twin Cities for music concerts and productions.

Over the course of his career as a mechanical engineer, Willis designed commercial mowers with Toro, golf course equipment with Turfco and a physiotherapy assessment machine with TechMac. With Crown Iron Works he contributed to the structural design of the Metrodome and early skyway systems in Minneapolis.  Closer to home, he worked for Arrow Tank and was quality control engineer for Control Data’s mainframe computer assembly facility in Cambridge.

Willis and Lyn enjoyed an active retirement, traveling abroad to Europe, Scandinavia, and spent 3 months with Bruce and his family in Kenya, East Africa in 1994. Their shared interest in local history resulted in many hours supporting the Isanti County Historical Society.  Willis helped plan and build the initial building on their grounds that was lost later in an arson fire.

Willis’ major retirement project was to lovingly restore representative models of potato harvesting equipment invented by his grandfather and father; potato pickers that were first produced on the farm in 1920 and shipped all over the country, and later potato combines manufactured in Braham. As President of Spannar Inc. in Grandy, they made the conveyer chain for the combines, designing and implementing a heat-treating process to make them stronger.  To preserve this important part of the region’s economic impact from the 1870s – 1930s, these restored machines have been donated to the County at the Dahlman Potato Museum which resides within the Isanti County Fairgrounds. Come visit during the County Fair in late July.

Willis also enjoyed time in his woodshop restoring many family heirloom pieces including his grandfather’s oak roll top desk and bookcase used in the Dahlman Manufacturing Co office.  Using the wood from fallen oak trees from a storm, he and Bruce built a Dalarna, Sweden-inspired cradle for his great-grandchildren and a live edge counter for Lorene’s western camper project.

After Lyn passed away in 2009, Willis was attending his granddaughter’s college graduation where he was re-acquainted with Marge Floberg, a lovely lady that he met in high school while traveling with a gospel quartet.  Their love story was a blessing to both as they married on December 10, 2010, bringing together yet more family to love. Marge and Willis enjoyed 13 wonderful years together, traveling to Disney World, Sweden, Iceland and family favorites around the midwestern area.  They made a dynamic duo, serving the Lord and loving life together.

Willis was predeceased by his first wife, Adeline (Lyn) and siblings Dorothy, Vergie, and Ronald.  He will be missed by his wife Marge, son Bruce and his wife Kate of Grand Marais, MN, daughter Lorene and husband Douglas of Berthoud, CO, son David Floberg and wife Catherine of Circle Pines, MN; grandchildren Erik (Mizuho), Ryan (Katie), Kaari (Zachary), Kevin, Nicholas (Brianna), Marissa (Jerry) and Dillon and 10 great-grandchildren. 

Memorial Service 11AM, Friday, May 10, 2024 at First Baptist Church of Cambridge.  Visitation one hour prior to the service.  In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Isanti County Historical Society at https://www.isanticountyhistory.org/support/ (If you don’t want to become a member, just state that in Address Line 2). 

To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Has Done

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