Allen C. Tunberg

Allen C. Tunberg

1939 – 2025

ARTHUR - Rev. Dr. Allen C. Tunberg, 85, of Arthur, passed away on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at his residence surrounded by family.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 15, 2025, at the Arthur Evangelical Free Church of Arthur. Pastor Dave Schultz will officiate. A Private Family Inurnment will be held in the Hayes Township Cemetery of Arthur.

Visitation will be held prior to the service from 9-11 a.m., Saturday, March 15, 2025, at the Arthur Evangelical Free Church of Arthur. 

The Christensen-Van Houten Funeral Home of Ida Grove, is in charge of the funeral arrangements. Condolences may be sent online at www.christensenvanhouten.com

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family to be used for missions in memory of Allen.

Allen Clayton Tunberg was born May 24, 1939, in Ida Grove, the youngest of Herbert and Alveda (Larson) Tunberg’s four children. On March 4, 2025, at the age of 85 years, he passed into the arms of Jesus from his home, surrounded by his wife and daughters.

From kindergarten–eighth grade, Allen attended Blaine 8 Country School. After graduating from Ida Grove High School with the Class of 1957, he moved to Chicago to attend Trinity College and complete a Bachelor of Arts in Education. Al was gifted with a bass voice and represented Trinity College in various quartets. It was also at Trinity College that he met the love of his life, Darlene Johnston. They were married on Aug. 24, 1962.

Allen loved learning, and said many times that he could have spent his entire life studying. He went on to complete three additional degrees at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois: Bachelor of Divinity, Master of Theology in Old Testament, and Doctor of Missiology. He was also ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA).

Allen and Darlene’s daughter, Heidi, was born while Al was the pastor of Logan Square Evangelical Free Church in Chicago, Illinois. Their daughter, Lisa, was also born in Chicago while they were raising support to go to Asia as missionaries with the EFCA.

In 1968, the family moved to Singapore where Al taught for three years at Singapore Bible College and also preached and taught Sunday School at two young churches–Bethany Chapel and Bukit Timah Free Church. After three years there, the family transferred to Malaysia where, over the years, they worked alongside nine local congregations of the Evangelical Free Church of Malaysia (EFCM). Al also developed and taught Lay Assistance Program (LAP) courses that brought seminary level training to lay leaders in the EFCM churches. The Tunberg family’s two home assignments were spent in Al’s hometown of Arthur.

In 1984, after 16 years as missionaries, the Tunbergs returned to the United States. Over the next 20 years, Allen served at the EFCA mission’s home office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, first as Asia Director, then as Equipping and Care Director, and finally as Training Director.   

After his retirement in 2004, Allen returned to his Iowa roots when he and Darlene moved to the family farm outside of Arthur, where he grew up. There, he continued to study and share what he learned by teaching an adult class Sunday morning at the Evangelical Free Church of Arthur. He also preached periodically at various local churches and shared an interim pastor position at Arthur EFC. For several years, he applied his knowledge of theology by devoting many hours to reading and evaluating papers submitted to the EFCA Board of Ministerial Standing by candidates seeking ordination in the Free Church.

Al was a man of genuine integrity, patient and kindhearted. Many sought out his wise counsel, always offered with his characteristic gentleness and humility, and it will be missed by many. He was fascinated by trains, and loved traveling, photography, and creating scrapbooks from various trips. Al had a wonderful, dry sense of humor. He kept files of jokes and funny stories and would often interject a humorous quote to match the occasion. He was also the family grammarian and proof-read MANY high school and college papers for children and grandchildren. Most of all, Al loved being with his family. Whether it was Sunday dinners at the farm, or visiting new places on family vacations, time spent together was always cherished. He shared many interests with his daughter, Heidi, and enjoyed living close to daughter, Lisa, her husband, Alan Henderson, grandchildren Jacob (Bethany) Henderson, Jenna Henderson, Alyssa (Timothy) Kuypers, Kally Henderson, and great-granddaughters, Eloise and Eleanor. 

Allen and Darlene also remained close to his siblings, the late Dr. Richard Tunberg and wife, Lois; Shirley and her late husband Albin “Rip” Rippstein; and Jane and her late husband Robert “Bob” Erickson. Although they lived far apart, the four couples loved reuniting for sibling vacations around the country.

Allen accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord as a boy and was a faithful follower of Christ from that day to the end of his life. His lifelong joy was teaching and preaching the Bible because his greatest desire was that others would know the same peace and joy he had found in his personal friendship with Jesus. After decades of cultivating that life-transforming friendship with Christ, Al eagerly looked forward to meeting his Savior face to face. He is finally home.