The Collegian

Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: News

Dylan Lindgren, 22, a student with a spirit President Larry Arnn described as "a mixture of mischief and seriousness," died early Saturday morning, March 8, after suffering from Hodgkin's lymphoma for a year and a half.

"Losing Dylan is awful," Arnn said, comparing the loss of a student to the disaster of losing one's own child. "He had such a zest for life."

Lindgren was born March 30, 1985, raised from infancy by his grandmother, Sophia Lindgren, in Southfield, Mich.

"She was a courageous and amazing woman," Arnn said. "She couldn't stop talking about what a blessing Dylan was to her."

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a cancer which spreads from one lymph node to another. The success rate for curing it is about 93 percent.

Lindgren came to Hillsdale College in fall 2004 and attended classes until diagnosed over Thanksgiving 2005. He would have been a senior this year. When the disease worsened, Lindgren was hospitalized at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. A few days before he died, he was moved to a hospice residential care center.

Arnn said he met Lindgren the Monday after he arrived at Hillsdale during his freshman year.

"Dylan walked up to me and tried to sell me Cutco knives." Arnn said. "Three minutes after meeting him, he cost me $300."

Lindgren was a part of the college's chamber choir as a tenor since his freshman year. The choir will perform Gabriel Fauré's "Requiem" and dedicate it to Lindgren in their April 27 concert.

"When he came in as a freshman, I heard something in his voice," said James Holleman, music department chairman and choir director. "What I loved about Dylan as a person is also what frustrated me with him as a student."

"He'd be late, he'd miss rehearsal. We assigned a couple girls to bring a comb to performances to brush his hair," Holleman said, smiling.

Holleman said he saw Lindgren as a gift from God.

"When we talk about him we are all smiling," he said. "That's why I like to refer to him as 'God's little birdie.' That's what I think of when I think of him. He was God's gift to the rest of us."

Holleman said Lindgren was always honest with him. He recalled a time when the choir was leaving campus for an event. The busses were loading. Lindgren was missing. Holleman's phone rang.

"Hello, Dylan," Holleman said. "Where are you?"

"I am going to be late," Lindgren said. "I am on my way back from a liquor run."

Lindgren's girlfriend of four months, sophomore Abbie Turnbull, recalled the first time she met Lindgren.

"I saw him and I was like, he's special and I know we're going to go somewhere," Turnbull said.

Turnbull described Lindgren as non-exclusive and non-judgmental, and said the amount of people visiting him at the hospital every day represented his impact on those he met.

"He knew everyone and everyone loved him," she said. "He made diversity not so diverse. There were at least 20 people trying to visit him at one time. The nurses were like bouncers."

Senior August Stafford said he and Lindgren were inseparable. He noticed Lindgren possessed a knack for bringing people together that continues after his death.

"He would instantly connect with people and show others how that's possible," Stafford said, also noting the number of people who met as a result of Lindgren's illness.

Before Lindgren died, Arnn and the deans presented him with a certificate making him an honorary alumnus since he could not finish college. A few weeks before Lindgren's health declined, a Facebook.com group called "Dylan Lindgren" kept its 321 members updated on his health. The group provided a venue for sending support and posting photos in his memory.

Turnbull said she learned a lot from Lindgren in the short time she knew him, especially about the sanctity of life.

"I realized how important life is and how important it is to live life the way you want," she said. "He had no regrets. He embraced everything, even this stupid cancer thing. He was an amazing boyfriend, too, and I think people are going to strive to live how he lived."

A memorial service for Dylan will be held March 29 at 11 a.m. at Salem United Church of Christ in Farmington, Mich. The Hillsdale College chamber choir will perform, as Dylan wished. Senior August Stafford said friends will gather afterward for beer and pie, two of Dylan's favorite things.

Hillsdale College Collegian 2008

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