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With heavy hearts but thanks for a life well-lived, we, Krister, Lars and Maria, announce that our father, Rev. Norman Arthur Hjelm, died at the age of 92 years on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, in Wynnewood, PA. Born on November 20, 1931 in Worcester, MA to proud Swedish descendants, Rev. Arthur and Ruth Hjelm, Norman grew up with two older siblings, Louise and Ralph. Arthur served as a Pastor in Lutheran churches and Norman grew up primarily in Washington, DC, during World War II, an event that profoundly helped shape his education and career. The nation’s capital also gave Norman a passion for football and baseball. His education reflects his faith and a career devoted to Christian theology. He graduated from Princeton University in 1953, majoring in Religious Studies and English. In his 70th reunion yearbook, he said of his Princeton experience, “At Princeton – in lectures and classes, in my eating club and friendships – I began, I think, to grow up and am still on the way. Deo Gratis!” Norman went on to Augustana Theological Seminary to receive a Bachelor of Divinity in 1957 and Union Theological Seminary to receive a Master of Sacred Theology in 1960, where he concentrated on the theological works of Gustaf Aulen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebur. In 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden in recognition of his contributions to theological scholarship. Norman was a President of the Lutheran Student Association of America and Chairman of the United Student Christian Council of America. As part of these activities, he traveled to Sweden and met his Swedish sweetheart, Ingalill Hellman, on a transatlantic voyage from New York City. They were married on July 13, 1957 in New York City, lived in Sweden, and raised us, his three children. In 1962, the family settled in the Philadelphia suburbs and remained in the area, with brief departures for work stints in Cleveland and Switzerland. Ordained in 1960, Norman started his career as a parish priest at All Saints’ Lutheran Church in Orland Park, Illinois, and then transitioned to book publishing in 1962 and was the Senior Editor and Director of Fortress Press in Germantown, PA. He was an early publisher of Walter Brueggeman, Elaine Pagels, CT Vivian and even Coretta Scott King. In 1985, he became the Communications Director for the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Switzerland. Norman’s work took him all over the world, until his return to the US to serve as Director of the Commission on Faith and Order at the National Council of Churches in 1991. Retirement held little interest for Norman, so he continued to write, consult, edit and devote himself to the ecumenical movement and to Christian unity. Expanding on his original academic interest in poets and theologians in WWII, he edited and wrote the introductions for two books about the church’s role in the Cold War. “The unity of the church, the unity of humankind. Unity in a fractured world. Unity – a goal to be cherished,” was the theme of a sermon he preached in 2003, and it was the theme of Norman’s life’s work. He was devoted to Ingalill, who died in 2006, and is survived by his three children and eleven grandchildren (Nikolaus, Max, Kerstin, Britta, Jakob, Kent, Maya, Patrik, Ethan, Erik and Alannah) and four great grandchildren (Stella, Clara, Beckett and Bo). Norman’s family and friends will remember him for his genuine kindness and his gift of conversation (Ingalill was often frustrated by his tendency to talk more than eat at the dinner table). Norman was an accomplished pianist and a lover of classical music. In his retirement, his season tickets to the Philadelphia Orchestra were amongst his greatest pleasures. Professional sports – baseball in particular – always brought Norman joy and frustration. He regaled his grandchildren by recounting important games that he had attended in his own childhood and he would entertain folks with his uncanny ability to speak backwards. He loved watching the Phillies, the 76ers, and the Eagles and did so until the very end. Likewise, Norman was never not reading a book. He left the biography, “King: A Life”, half-read at his passing. A funeral for Norman Hjelm will be held on Saturday, February 24, 2024 at 1 pm at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral in Philadelphia. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Cathedral Table Ministries, in support of the cathedral’s food pantry held in partnership with Philabundance. Please visit https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z497/campaign/C-14P5B

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Norman A. Hjelm

November 20, 1931 - February 13, 2024