“Love your enemies” may be one of the most challenging commands ever issued, but Ray Denogean learned that it could be done, even if it took five years. In 1991 he lost his wife Shirley in a shocking abduction/murder at a San Gabriel Valley shopping mall. In the...

In 1962, the first full year of CLC’s existence, the first college president hired the first-ever football coach for the first student body—because “if CLC was going to be a real college and later a real university, it had to have a strong football team.” That first...

Most people will never know the true impact that Kenneth Siegele had upon the fiscal undergirding of California Lutheran University. One reason was that he went about carrying out his responsibilities quietly and capably. Another reason was that he had a clear...

Sigmund G. Sandrock served as a faithful pastor of the American Lutheran Church (ALC) for 36 years before his death in 1979. He and his wife Darlyce had five children—four daughters and a son. Prior to serving in parish ministries in Santa Maria and Santa Monica,...

The Signora O. Peterson Award was one of CLC’s earliest awards. It was funded as a tribute to a gracious lady, Signora Peterson, the mother of Virginia Gangsei, the wife of Dr. Lyle Gangsei, the Academic Dean of California Lutheran College at that time. The fund was...

Few people today read or understand Latin, but almost everyone is familiar with the word patriarch, which comes from that language. The dictionary defines patriarch as a “father and head of a family or tribe.” The person who embodies that term for CLU is Marvin...

This scholarship had two different lives. For its first 10 years (from 1975 to 1985), it was known as simply the Stanley E. Olson Scholarship. It originated with a gift from St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Van Nuys where the Reverend Stanley Olson served as pastor...

Some people continue to play “follow the leader” well into adulthood. At least, that’s what Mabel Stapel did, and she wisely chose the right kind of leaders to follow. Mabel lived in Glendale, California, where she was a member of Foothill Lutheran Church. Among her...

When Steven Woskow sold his business, Agtech Products, Inc., he and his wife Susan realized they were in a position to make a large charitable gift, and they wanted to make one that would have an impact. Advancement staff at Cal Lutheran introduced the couple to...

Eugene Myers was an individual who was a genuine mixture of humility and strength. He was also a lover of music, especially instrumental music. In fact, it was Gene’s love of music that first attracted him to Cal Lutheran. As early as 1981 he began supporting the CLC...

Those who became Founding Fellows of California Lutheran College were a group of men and women who believed that God, with their help and financial support, could build a college out of a ranch. The names of Rev. Alfred Otto Storvick and his wife Hortense were on...

In the annals of every institution are stories of people who have contributed in unusual, and often sacrificial, ways to make that institution successful. This is such a story. California Lutheran College was incorporated on August 4, 1959. Even though the land on...

A tradition may be something handed down from the past, or it may be some-thing intentionally created to be handed down for the future. The STRIVE Fellowship is in the second category, a legacy of CLU graduate students for future graduate students. At CLU, a...

“Everybody liked to hang around him because he was so fun and funny. But people liked him for the person he was inside.” That’s how one of Sven Slattum’s poker buddies described him several years after his death. A horrible traffic accident in 1984 claimed the lives...

Terry and Nicki Haven are good planners. In their early 60s they made the final arrangements for their earthly possessions and then promptly set about enjoying their retirement years together. They planned well, and now have the assurance that after their deaths,...

“I’m a former Marine Corps officer and the purpose of establishing The Bower Scholarship is to assist students whose parents have honorably served in the Marine Corps, Navy, Army, or Air Force. First preference for the scholarship shall be for students of Marine...

Leadership is that quality of character that a university tries and hopes to instill in its students. It’s also a trait that most students hope to achieve during their college experience. The development of the ASCLUG Leadership Scholarship in the spring of 2009 was...

The name of Dr. Tom Torgerson is among those that are part of the early history of CLU. He was one of CLC’s Founding Fellows and a faithful supporter from the college’s inception. And always at his side was his wife Sandra. They were married for 60 happy years. Dr....

Long before there was an official agreement form for CLU’s endowed scholarships, a well crafted statement gave shape to Thomas and Sarah Hilleson Art Award. With an initial gift of $500, a member of the Hilleson family, Peter Oppedahl, challenged his entire family...

Few events have touched the heart of the Cal Lutheran community like the death of Thomas Huston in October 1982. Tommy was a freshman from Hayward, California, who had only been attending classes for one month. But even in that month on campus he had made many...

Earl and Irene Thouren were staunch members of Hope Lutheran Church in San Mateo, California. Their family included their son Peter and daughter Susan. Professionally, Earl was a practical sort, an engineer who served with the U.S. Corps of Engineers. As a good...

The story for this endowed scholarship may not require many words, but the length of time required to bring the scholarship up to an endowment would indicate otherwise. It is a challenging story, as the reader will soon realize. In 1983 Lutheran Brotherhood announced...

Timothy Alan “Tim” Hughes was an extremely talented young man. He grew up in Lancaster, California, where he was encouraged to develop his musical abilities at the keyboard. He came as a student to California Lutheran College where, under the tutelage of the music...

While the adjective beautiful is often overused, there are some times when it is just the right word, as this scholarship story shows. Ruth Christine Overton was born on April 2, 1949, the oldest of four children of Judge Paul Overton and Naomi Fredrickson Overton....

As the saying goes, “good things come in small packages.” That saying took on new meaning when Margaret Tiplady Burgess became a friend of California Lutheran University in 2006. Although she was living in Newbury Park at the time, the petite Margaret was planning to...

As the saying goes, “good things come in small packages.” That saying took on new meaning when Margaret Tiplady Burgess became a friend of California Lutheran University in 2006. Although she was living in Newbury Park at the time, the petite Margaret was planning to...

To quote Samuel Butler (who himself was quoting St. Paul), “For as you sow, ye are like to reap.” Whether that idea was in Bob Peper’s mind when he presented a seminar on estate planning is not clear, but that’s exactly what happened with Tom and Sara McCart. The...

As an alumna of Cal Lutheran and local educator, Kathleen Turner ’88 is passionate about education. Grateful for her own experience in the program, she and her husband, Larry, wanted to provide the opportunity for future teachers to purse a degree through the...

Vern and Janet Swanson were true life partners—in their marriage, as parents of their three sons, and in their faith. Vern had earned a degree in physics from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Janet was a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in...

Sometimes the story of a scholarship begins several generations before it actually comes into being. This is especially true for the Victor and Mary Carlson Memorial Scholarship, the second endowed scholarship ever to be established at California Lutheran College. ...