Mondale was born in
Walnut Grove, Minnesota, the son of
Methodist minister and
World War I hero Theodore Sigvaard Mondale and his first wife Jessie Alice Larson. Although his family was Methodist, he converted to
Unitarianism while earning his
B.A. from
Hamline University. In 1926 Mondale entered the Unitarian ministry and in 1929 he earned an
S.T.B. from
Harvard Divinity School. He was ordained by the New North Unitarian Church,
Hingham, Massachusetts, and went on to serve congregations in
Evanston, Illinois,
Kansas City, Missouri;
Birmingham, Michigan;
White Plains, New York;
Tempe, Arizona; and
Quincy, Illinois. His younger half-brother was
Walter Mondale,
Vice President of the United States under
Jimmy Carter. He was married three times. From his first wife, Edith Eldred Klose, he had one daughter, Tarand Elose Mondale Swenstad. From his second wife, Fay A. Smead, he had three daughters: Ellen Smead Mondale, Karen Smead Mondale and Julia Smead Kellum Mondale Jensen. He married his third wife, Rosemary Delap, on May 31, 1961. == Selected publications ==