Pastor Remembered For Decades Of Newspaper Columns

The Rev. Malcolm Nygren is being remembered for much more than his devotion to the church.

The longtime pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Champaign who passed away last week was also a columnist at the News-Gazette.

In 1953, he was in a group of ministers recruited by the paper, but all the rest of them left after writing a single column.  Nygren kept it up for nearly 60 years, ending his column in February 2011. 

He told Illinois Public Media then his writings were never overtly religious, but were reflections on major events – ranging from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, to the birth of his children.

““I don’t take this all that seriously" he said.  "I don’t think it really changed the world. For some people it came at a time in their life when it was something they really needed, and it was useful for them. I’m glad for that. One of the reasons they read it every week was it was only 360 words, so it doesn’t take long. You weren’t making a big commitment when you started that.”

Malcolm Nygren died last Friday at the age of 89 after a battle with leukemia.  He was affiliated with First Presbyterian for nearly 40 years.

Visitation is Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Morgan Memorial Home in Savoy, with a memorial service at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church.