Institutional scholarships are vital to the 99 percent of Hesston College students who receive institutional aid. These scholarships are awarded to students who have particular interest, qualifications or financial need. The following scholarships have been added to the list of endowed scholarships since fall of 2016.

Sharon Nofziger Nursing Scholarship Fund

Sharon (Nofziger) ’72 Terhaar received her nursing degree from Hesston College, then continued studies at the University of California Los Angeles Medical School to become a healthcare nurse practitioner. For the last ten years of her life, she was a nurse practitioner at the Bend (Ore.) Memorial Clinic. Sharon’s parents, Willard and Bernita Nofziger, promised Sharon that when she and her husband, Greg Terhaar, were ready to build their dream house, they would give them land to sell to use to help pay for the new home. Sharon died of a brain aneurysm in 2000, only 13 months after her marriage and before beginning the dream house. Willard and Bernita used the promised land to establish a scholarship fund for Hesston College aspiring nurses in their daughter’s honor.

Elam J. Peachey Endowed Scholarship

A life-long learner, Peachey strongly promoted Mennonite education. After several years as a voluntary service director in Costa Rica, he returned to the U.S. and served as a science teacher, administrator and development officer in Mennonite schools, including development work at Hesston College from 1990 until his death in 2011. Peachey’s work was his response to Christ, the church and the natural world. He believed that education is the combined responsibility of the family, church and school.

The scholarship reflects Peachey’s passion for learning and will be granted primarily to students expressing a desire to pursue a career in education.

Etta Schmitt Endowed Scholarship for Women in Business

As a housewife and mother in the 1950s, Schmitt wanted to contribute to the family income. Her husband, Peter, began selling and installing kitchen cabinets while also teaching at Bethany Christian High School (Goshen, Ind.). Being self-taught, Schmitt became his bookkeeper and kitchen designer. In 1959 the couple opened their own business, Aurora Cabinet Company, and Etta was the sole office person for a number of years. She was a pioneer as one of the of the first women in the area to design and sell kitchens.

The scholarship was established in Schmitt’s honor by her children, Ken Schimtt ’69 and Jan (Schmitt) ’73 Orpin. Schmitt would love to know that she is helping a young woman start her education on the way to becoming a successful business woman.