Ken Lindahl, who taught a generation of thespians, dies at 77

“He wanted to sit on the edge of the stage where it all began with my mom,” said Laura Lindahl, who is now a theater teacher at Brookwood, like her parents before her.

“Dad wouldn’t cry when he was sad; he would cry when he was moved. He was smiling with tears in his eyes.”

Credit: Courtesy of Family

Credit: Courtesy of Family

Kenneth Glenn Lindahl, who taught and inspired a generation of theater students, died Nov. 16, 2024, at Northside Hospital in Lawrenceville due to complications from ALS. He was 77.

“The Lindahl family is so special,” said Ann-Carol Pence, cofounder of Lawrenceville’s Aurora Theatre. “They embraced every kid who had a creative spark and shone a light on them so brightly that they could find their place in this world. They did it better than anybody else. They continue to shape thousands of kids’ lives.”

“His enthusiasm for theater was so pure,” said Matthew. “It felt like watching some 1940s film where a bunch of spunky kids get together to put on a show and save the farm.”

Lindahl was born Oct. 23, 1947, in St. Joseph, Michigan. “He was an only child, and he got into puppets and marionettes as a boy,” said Matthew. “He used to put on puppet shows for his cousins when they would visit, and as they got a little older he would cast his cousins in his stories. He essentially replaced the marionettes with his cousins.”

Ken and Patty Lindahl met in 1969 at a dance. They told the story to The Atlanta Journal- Constitution in 2005:

Patty, a high school senior, was dancing with someone else, so Ken, a college sophomore, waited for his chance.

“There were several false attempts to cut in,” Ken recalled. “I didn’t want to ask her early in the dance. If she said no, then I would have been depressed.”

Then, as Stevie Wonder sang “For Once in My Life,” he made his move.

“He just came out of nowhere and cut in,” Patty said. “I liked what I saw immediately. He had a great tan and was involved in theater.”

“Mom always said it was love at first sight,” said Laura.

Lindahl earned a Master of Fine Arts at Western Michigan University and taught high school English, mass communications and theatre. He and Patty married in 1973 and produced dozens of community theater productions, as well as their three children.

The family moved to Snellville in Gwinnett County in 1983, and the Lindahls began their three-decade long yoked careers in the performing arts at Brookwood High School.

He appeared as both very calm and very much in motion. “He was a man of movement,” said Matthew. “Students would always say during tech rehearsal, ‘Where’s Mr. Lindahl?’ And he’d be in the sound booth, he’d be in the lighting booth, he’d be in makeup, he’d be in wardrobe.”

Former student Woody Wood came from Florida to attend Lindahl’s funeral. As a freshman at Brookwood, Wood was a self-described “bad kid, getting into all kinds of trouble.”

“Ken and Patty both had such impact on so many people’s lives — just building a community where we all had each other’s backs, teaching us self-worth and accountability,” he said.

“You could have done something so outrageously stupid, and he would never raise his voice,” he continued. “He was kind and compassionate and would talk to you like a young adult and explain how your actions affect people around you. He gave me that space to self-reflect and become a better human being.”

Chris Damiano got his theater start in 1987 in Lindahl’s class and onstage at Brookwood.

“He always saw the best in us,” Damiano said. “He directed me in ‘Oklahoma’.” Damiano was playing Jud Fry, the heavy. “I was singing this song ‘The Lonely Room’ and he worked with me one-on-one to help me understand what the lyrics meant. He really got me to wrap my mind around it so I could transform into the character.” Damiano went on to be a professional actor because of Lindahl, and also to marry Lindahl’s daughter Laura.

Ken and Patty Lindahl retired from Brookwood in 2013, and the school named its theater the Ken and Patty Lindahl Performing Arts Center.

“Together, just like they did everything,” said Laura,

Both were inducted into the Georgia Thespians Hall of Fame.

Lindahl is survived by his wife Patty; children Laura, Matthew, and Sarah; and grandsons Henry and Atticus.

A funeral mass was held at Saint John Neumann Catholic Church in Lilburn, at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Ken Lindahl Scholarship Fund, through the Brookwood Performing Arts Boosters.