David Sydney Dahl, aged 83, of Edina passed away April 17, 2023. Dahl was a U.S. Naval officer and had a long career as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He is preceded in death by wife, Phyllis. Survived by sons, Dan (B), Mark and Peter; grandson, Rowan. Service at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Tuesday, April 25, 11 a.m. with visitation at 10 a.m.
Dave was born on December 21, 1939 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Berger and Gladys (Bunsness) Dahl. He was followed by two sisters, Judy and Joyce, and then his brother, John. While Dave was a young child, his father Berger served in the Navy at the end of World War II and then entered the hardware business back in South Dakota. The Dahl family lived in Aberdeen, Platte and Mitchell, South Dakota and eventually returned to Sioux Falls.
When Dave was 16, his father died suddenly of a heart attack. Gladys and the four children carried on in Sioux Falls. Dave attended high school at Augustana Academy, graduating in 1957. He then joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Program and attended Augustana College, graduating in 1961. After college, he entered active duty in the U.S. Navy. His naval tours included a posting in Kodiak, Alaska during the 1964 earthquake and time in the Mediterranean. He eventually attained the rank of lieutenant commander.
After his time as an active duty officer, Dave entered the Naval Reserve and enrolled in a master’s program in economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Upon graduation in January 1966, he moved to Minneapolis where he took a position as an economist in the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
In 1966, Dave met Phyllis Ledin at Kioninians, a young adult group at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis. They participated in canoe camping trips together in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, creating friendships that would last a lifetime. They became engaged in July 1967, married at Aldrich Avenue Presbyterian Church in South Minneapolis on November 25, 1967 and lived on Dean Blvd. in South Minneapolis.
In December 1968, Phyllis and Dave bought a home on Branson Street in the Morningside neighborhood of Edina, Minnesota where they would reside for the next 48 years. In December 1969, Phyllis gave birth to their son, Mark. Peter was born in 1971 and Dan followed in 1974. The young family was active in the Central Lutheran community and became involved in Camp Amnicon, Central Lutheran’s camp on the south shore of Lake Superior.
In the 1980s, the Dahl kids attended the Edina public schools with all three eventually graduating from Edina High School. Dave and Phyllis supported the kids’ activities including scouting, band, bicycling and cross-country skiing. Dave was elected treasurer of Central Lutheran Church in 1987, where the family continued to be active members. In the early eighties, Dave built a 16-foot Luger kit sailboat and the family enjoyed sailing it on Minnesota lakes. In 1989, Dave finished the Twin Cities Marathon, the first of seven marathons he would complete.
Dave eventually transitioned from the Research Department to the Public Affairs Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He retired from the Fed in 2000 after 34 years of service. His next adventure was teaching economics and banking classes as an adjunct instructor at Augsburg College, the University of St. Thomas, and the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
In their retirement years, Dave and Phyllis enjoyed visiting their son Dan and his wife B in Colorado and their son Mark in Oregon. Dave and Phyllis took to grandparenting Mark’s son Rowan with great joy. Dave’s experience raising three boys came right back to him as he never hesitated to drop to the floor to play with Rowan as he grew from a tiny baby to a rambunctious young boy. In retirement, Phyllis and Dave volunteered at Central Lutheran Church and traveled extensively, taking a number of cruises including ventures to Alaska, the Panama Canal and the Mediterranean.
In 2016, after 48 years together, Dave lost Phyllis after a three-year struggle with an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease. In the years following, Dave moved into the 7500 York Apartment Cooperative where he served on the board and as treasurer. He continued to pursue his passions which included reading, cooking, biking, exercise at the YMCA, volunteering at the Restoration Center at Central Lutheran and travel. He ventured to Europe and the Pacific and took bike tours into his eighties. In 2019, with a nod to his Norwegian heritage, he organized a Grand Tour of Norway with Dan, B, Peter, Mark and Rowan.
A very important part of Dave’s life was his time spent with his son Peter. They had a Sunday routine that included church, a meal out and a favorite bookstore. Dave cherished seeing his sibling’s families over holidays and vacations, particularly John, Barb, Bill, Judy and Kirstin. Before she passed away in 2018 at age 103, Dave and his siblings regularly visited their mother Gladys in Sioux Falls.
Dave Dahl was a warm, kind and generous man who was curious and optimistic by nature. He was a committed Christian and practiced service to the community. He was a dedicated and loving husband. He was a father with a steady presence who did everything in his power to support his kids and always took any opportunity to spend time with them. Dave was good humored and loved to tell a good story and laugh among kin and friends.