Joe G. and Helen Gunderson Scholarship

The first Gunderson to go to college, Joe majored in business, with an emphasis on accounting. Upon completing a Bachelor’s degree in 1937, Joe found a job teaching business courses at Boyd High School in west central Wisconsin. At age 16, Helen moved into a Sturgeon Bay hotel, where she waited on tables and worked in the kitchen while attending high school. There Helen met Joe Gunderson. At age 16, Helen moved into a Sturgeon Bay hotel, where she waited on tables and worked in the kitchen while attending high school. There Helen met Joe Gunderson. Joe and Helen eventually settled in Appleton to raise their three children: Jerry, Carol, and Darrel. Joe taught business courses at Appleton’s Adult Vocational School, earned a master’s degree from Lawrence University, and eventually became the vocational school’s Director of the Business Department. All three of his children took summertime class taught by their father: accounting, business math, and typing. He was a good teacher and set a good example: inspired by their father, all three of them became teachers themselves. It is in honor of Helen Gunderson’s memory-and that of their father, Joe Gunderson-that this scholarship has been created.

The following criteria shall be used in the annual selection of the recipient(s):
1. Applicants can be a first-year or a continuing student
2. Applicants must major in Elementary Education or in the School of Business
3. Applicants must demonstrate financial need

The Joe G. and Helen Gunderson Scholarship encourages recipients to reapply each year.