HALIFAX- The Reverend J. Arthur Dahlstrand, 96, a longtime Methodist minister and former resident of Halifax, passed away on Friday, December 18, 2009, at Crestwood Nursing Home in Warren, RI, with his daughter beside his bed.

Born on January 12, 1913, in Corry, PA, to John and Valentina Marsen Dahlstrand, he was a Methodist minister since 1938. Over the course of his ministry, he served churches in Newport, Providence, and Pawtucket, RI; Brockton, Fall River, and Leyden, MA; Hazardville, CT; Halifax; and Minnesota. In total, he performed 499 baptisms, 311 weddings, 458 funerals and was recognized with the Golden Cane Award for being the oldest clergyperson in the New England Conference with the longest number of years serving a local church.

He received his Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) from Taylor University in Indiana in 1938 and his Bachelor of Theological Science from Harvard University in 1943. After retirement in 1978, he and his wife Effamay Thomas Dahlstrand, made their home in Halifax, and then in Warren in 2005 with their daughter.