St. Louis Park – William (Bill) Jay Svendsgaard, 86, peacefully passed away on Sunday, August 31, 2025, surrounded by his family. Bill was born to Charles and Marie on April 23, 1939, and grew up on his family’s dairy farm near Mavie, Minnesota. Upon graduating from Goodridge High School, Bill was an International
4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE) delegate to Switzerland and went on to earn undergraduate and master’s degrees in elementary education from Bemidji State University.
Bill had a deep passion for art and experiential learning that he shared with others throughout his life. He taught fourth grade and was later a principal in Montevideo, where he met his wife, Aljean. They were married in 1965. Bill later became a professor of education at the University of Minnesota-Morris, directed the Individualized Prescribed Instruction (IPI) curriculum in Montevideo, and volunteered with Aljean in the Peace Corps in Brazil. Bill later served as a University of Minnesota 4-H Youth Educator for 26 years, inspiring and mentoring thousands of Hennepin County youth to make a positive change in their community and world.
After his retirement in 2002, Bill continued to share his love of art by teaching and volunteering with youth and adults in service organizations and prisons. His lifelong creative and caring leadership was recognized nationally in 2020 when he was inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame. Bill is survived by his wife of 60 years, Aljean; and family, friends, and colleagues. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Marie (Wayne) Svendsgaard; siblings, Dale Svendsgaard, Karen Thygeson, and Kathy Vatthauer; brothers-in-law, Orrin Scholberg, Floyd Fredrickson, and DuWayn Thygeson; and sister-in-law, Jan Svendsgaard.
A Celebration of Life will take place at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 12, 2025, at Westwood Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park with visitation from 10–11 a.m. Service arrangements: https://www.washburn-mcreavy.com.
Contributions in memory of Bill may be made to the Hennepin County 4-H Legacy Fund at: https://makingagift.umn.edu/give/fund.html?id=21945 or Minnesota 4-H at: z.umn.edu/4Hgive.
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