Donald L & Elizabeth J Bennett Endowment

Eligibility: All
Area of Interest: Health ProfessionsPre-Veterinary

Criteria:

1. Recipients shall be from the following Nebraska communities: Litchfield, Mason City, Ansley, Berwyn, Broken Bow, Merna, Anselmo, Dunning, Halsey, Thedford, Seneca, Mullen, Whitman, Hyannis, Ashby, Bingham, Lakeside, Alliance, Pleasanton, or Arcadia. Also, Custer, SD 2. The recipients shall be pursuing a career in dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, optometry, nurse practitioner, physician's assistant or veterinary science. 3. 

This scholarship is named in honor of our parents and in memory of our grandparents and great grandparents who were Nebraska pioneers. We have specifically directed this scholarship to students from the smaller Nebraska communities where our families went to school, worked and lived. Harvey and Jennie Loughran Andrews ranched near Anselmo. Arthur and Bessie Wing, David and Rosetta Bennett, and Fred and Gertrude Bennett farmed near Arcadia, Mason City and Pleasanton. William and Fannie Crouch and Ernest and Alice Crouch farmed and ran a dairy near Broken Bow. Born near Mason City and Broken Bow, both of our parents attended a year of college, aspiring to careers in dentistry and nursing. But, due to the aftermath of the Great Depression and World War II, they were unable to continue their education. As an Agent for what is now BNSF railroad, our father worked in many depot offices along Highway 2 from Litchfield to Alliance, as well as Custer, South Dakota. Even with health concerns, our mother worked as an Administrative Officer for the US Forest Service in Custer and Chadron, baking bread, canning and making our clothes after work. They scrimped, saved and sacrificed to send all three of us to college. We were encouraged to study hard and obtain an education; “the one thing no one can take away from you”. All of us started school in Custer, graduated from Alliance and attended CSC. We obtained degrees and had successful careers in accounting, pharmacy and optometry. Our hope is that this scholarship provides the opportunity for hard working students to succeed in a health related field.