According to page 354 of the first volume of my transcribed journals, I met Chris “Chud” Lundgreen on Wednesday, August 27, 1997, in the men’s locker room ahead of Mrs. Swenson’s cross-training class, on the first day of freshman year at Kamiakin High School.
At the time he was just “Chris”, from Colorado—as far as my journal tells and as far as I remember, he hadn’t yet announced his full adoption of the nickname Chud.
Chud Lundgreen has been diagnosed with fatal brain cancer, and is quickly succumbing to the effects. It has been devastating to face the loss of our wonderful friend.
I spent a week scanning a suitcase full of photos from high school, and here I give every photo I found with Chris-Chud (as I’ve sometimes called him) in it. I also give selections from my journals which relate to my lifelong friend.
This followed directly after the week I spent in tears.
In my Utah life and particularly in my extended wrestle with (and difficulty being open about) doubts about Mormonism, I grew distant from a lot of my friends. I didn’t have enough trust that people could handle my lack of full belief. (Unfortunate in retrospect, but that’s where I was.) I regret not staying closer to Chud, yet was happy to see more of him in recent years, to be more real with him about things than I was growing up. The last time I saw him, maybe a month before his diagnosis, I went with him and his kids to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. We had a good time together, talking about Linux like the old days, just being nerds together, same as it always was. I’m not sure but perhaps he spoke some Klingon as he was wont to do. My eyes fill with tears as I write this. Chris “Chud” Lundgreen was sui generis—like no one else I’ve ever known, or ever will. He will be deeply missed.
Regarding “Chud”
I have felt for some time that it is somehow legendary for Chud to go by the name Chud. I’ve tended to call him Chris-Chud lately to highlight that. I’m not sure why it highlights that; it just feels like it does. I guess it feels like he was too much person to have just one first name.
But what even is a chud, anyhow?
Chris Lundgreen is the only person I’ve ever known to go by the name Chud. And yet, in 2025, I hear the word “chud” regularly, a seeming riff on “Chad“. But Chris’s “Chud” has a different origin, though in same ways similar to contemporary usage. That is a story for others to tell: the Lundgreen family are the proper experts on the topic, and his earlier friends who gave him the name, and Chud himself were he somehow, miraculously, to pull through. (As I write, he’s not doing well.)
My contribution then is simply to highlight that the Wikipedia article about certain Balto-Finnic peoples called Chud is a good read:
Folk etymology derives the word [chud] from Old East Slavic language (chuzhoi, ‘foreign’; or chudnoi ‘odd’; or chud ‘weird’), or alternatively from chudnyi, wonderful, miraculous, excellent, attractive….
In the mytho-poetical tradition of the Komi, the word chud can also designate Komi heroes and heathens; Old Believers; another people different from the Komi; or robbers—the latter two are the typical legends in Sámi folklore. In fact, the legends about Chuds (Čuđit) cover a large area in northern Europe from Scandinavia to the Urals, bounded by Lake Ladoga in the south, the northern and eastern districts of the Vologda province, and passing by the Kirov region, further into Komi-Permyak Okrug. It has from this area spread to Trans-Ural region through mediation of migrants from European North.
Chud has become a swear word in the Arkhangelsk region. As late as 1920, people of that region used legends of the Chuds to scare small naughty children.
Journal entries
These are selections from the first volume of my journals which mention Chris-Chud. Not what I would have hoped for but it brings the time and place of adolescence to life.
Wednesday, August 27, 1997—First day of School
Today was my first day of high school. It’s not as much of an adjustment as I thought (so far) and it’s not nearly as scary as it seemed after the incoming freshmen orientation. I started out by going to zero-hour Jazz Band. We basically talked and then listened to “Turkish Bath” for about 10 minutes. Tomorrow we’ll play some music. In Cross-Training I am one of five boys in our class. The others are Brett, Randy, John, and Chris, from Colorado. Jessie, Heather, and a lot of other girls I know are in that class.
I have World Geog. with Colin, James, David Ostler, Kevin Anderson, Claire, Shannon Rhodes.
Michelle Gale, Brett Mower, Colin McDaniel, Colin Thorndyke, Alex, and I all have
English together.
Bro. Elms is my seminary teacher. Colin, Clayton, Spencer, Jeff Craig, Jason Barton, Greg Moody, and Ben Forsyth are in that class.
In Algebra, I’m with Ben, Chris Moore, and Megan Moody. Andy Beck, Chuck Allison and tons of people from band are in there, too. Also John Pratt.
This could work out to be a great year.
Thursday, August 28, 1997
Today I found out that the Chris kid in PE is going to be in 11th ward. I didn’t even know he was a church member! This means all 5 guys in our class are members. [The cross-training guys were all Mormons!]
Tuesday, September 23, 1997
I’m trying to think of what interesting things happened today…. The person
named Chris in my PE class is Chris Lundgreen. I didn’t know his last name until
today. I’m not quite sure he’s found a niche yet at Kamiakin. At dances he hangs
around our group a lot but doesn’t do a lot of actual talking. Hmm….
Saturday, October 25, 1997
… After band, I came home, cleaned my room a bit and did some work, and then I got a phone call. It was Chris Lundgreen wanting to carpool to the church dance….
Monday, October 18, 1999
On Saturday I took Megan Moody on a date. Homecoming, to be specific. We were with Michelle, Tammy, Lies (Megan’s foreign exchange student), Ben, Brandon, and Chris Lundgreen. We played “Two Truths and a Lie” at the Wilson’s house, and then we went to Columbia Park and finger-painted portraits of our dates.
Then we got dressed, etc.
After forgetting the corsage at my house, I finally picked up Megan and Lies (with Brandon.) We took pictures at everyone’s houses, etc. and finally ate dinner at the Lundgreens’. Everyone looked pretty awesome!
We went to the dance, which was the most horrible, sleezy, immoral thing I’ve
ever seen. Just don’t ask…
After that we attempted to T.P. Keith Walker’s house, with only partial success,
then we took the girls home….
Wednesday, June 14, 2000
Well, two weekends ago on Friday night at Chris’s house, John Wolfgramm broke my collarbone while we were beginning a wrestling match on the Lundgreens’ back lawn.
Shock, emergency room, x-rays, pain medication, a blessing by Dad and Brother
Lundgreen. It was quite a night.
I was equipped with a shoulder-immobilizing sling so that my fractured left clavacle [sic] can heal. Teresa brought me flowers (Daisies) and Chris and his fam visited. I was unable to work Baskin Robbins and have not yet returned….
Thursday, July 5, 2001
… Another weird portion of my dream was that I drove by the Wolfgramms’ house and John and Chris Lundgreen were on the lawn being goofy (although neither of them is in the Tri-Cities right now).
Sunday, May 12, 2002
- Things I prayed about tonight:
Should I go ahead with getting the tooth removed? [I have an extra tooth in my nasal cavity.]
“It will be alright.” - Is it thy will for me to go on a mission at this time?
The feeling I received was a warm confirmation that the Savior Jesus Christ will call me to the place he wishes me to serve at. In other words, “Yes”.
In my heart I feel and know that the Gospel is true, the Book of Mormon is true.
My mind may see things differently, but I can feel the warmth of the love of God
strongly, and submit my intellect to trust my heart.
Also, Brother Rosewood mentioned that he had dinner with Chris Lundgreen’s
dad….
Photos
I scanned around 1300 photos that had been gathering dust in an old suitcase for about 20 years. They’re basically all from high school. These are the photos which the face detection algorithm determined portray Chudders. Apparently we went to a lot of formal dances, and little else! [Where is GoldenEye??] Some of these photos align with the journal entries. Chud Lundgreen, you’re uniquest of the unique—one who doesn’t apologize for being fully himself every minute; the only, and most wonderful, Chud we know.
A leader is judged not by the length of his reign but by the decisions he makes.
—Klingon proverb
Update: On the morning of June 25th, 2025, our friend passed away. He will be dearly missed.
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