Nathan Orlando Folland, 87

Nathan Orlando Folland (Nate) was a very straightforward man. His son Jonathan described him as “eminently sensible” and Elizabeth appreciated that her father taught her “to be skeptical of all things.” His daughter Meredith observed that “Dad was an honorable man of unwavering integrity. He unapologetically and uncompromisingly followed his own set of principles. Though he could seem critical at times, his high standards pushed those around him, especially his children, to strive for excellence. Beneath his tough exterior, his deep love for his family was always evident, shaping us into who we are today.” To his wife he gave a loyal and generous love. His friends admired his “brilliant mind,” while his winning, warm smile seemed to embrace and charm everyone who met him. He was tall and physically strong, with a face that only missed being too handsome by a degree. His droll sense of humor found the absurdities in life. He only barely suffered fools and said little until something needed to be said.

Born in Greenbush, MN January 12, 1937, Nate died in St Augustine, FL August 7, 2024, of heart and lung failure complicated by Lewy body disease. He graduated from high school in Karlstad, MN in 1955 and from Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) in 1959. He earned a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Iowa State University in 1965. After a N.A.T.O. Fellowship in Messina, Italy, Nate took a position as assistant professor of Physics at Kansas State University in 1966 where he spent his career teaching, theorizing, and publishing, retiring in 2000 as Professor Emeritus.

His successful career as an academic was only a piece of his life. Nate’s favorite stories were about picking potatoes in the summer in the Red River Valley of Minnesota when he was a teenager, working in a fire tower in the mountains of Idaho as a young man, and tales of his friends and family in the small Minnesota town where he grew up. (His dementia never erased his childhood though it did garble things a bit.) He sang in a rich bass voice, with a choir or without; his favorite songs were “Ode to Joy” and “Die Gedanken sind frei”. He danced with abandon. He explored the outdoors every chance he could: sailing, fishing, gardening (vegetables—very practical), camping (his campfire tinfoil hamburger stew was delicious), back-packing, snow skiing, bird watching, bird hunting (though he felt a little bad about that), bicycling, basketball--he played with gusto and competitiveness. He could repair or build nearly anything, and with his wife completely remodeled four homes. Nate was a perfect companion: interested, interesting, and as one old friend observed, “top-drawer all the way, always himself and a great guy to be around.”

Nate was predeceased by his parents Norval and Gladys (Hauger) Folland, and his brother Sherman Folland. Nate is survived by his wife of 44 years Angel Kwolek-Folland; his children (with his first wife) Elizabeth (Ron) McVeigh, Meredith (Ken) Miller, and Jonathan; two grandchildren, Katarina Miller and Joshua McVeigh; one great-grandchild, Lily McVeigh; and his brother Glenn (Christine), sister-in-law Donna, and nieces Hanna and Ingrid Folland.

Nate was not a saintly man, but he was a pure one; there was no artifice in him anywhere. As an agnostic he knew there was no one god but he never lost his sense of wonder at the endless variety of this world. He tried to live in it lightly and respectfully and took comfort in its sometimes-hard realities. Donations in Nate’s honor may be made to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Planned Parenthood, The Nature Conservancy, The Unitarian Universalist Association, or a charity of your choice. Please remember him with the same joy he took from life.

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