Dr. Harvey and Bernice Wipf Scholarship

Health and medicine were part and parcel of the Wipf family’s lifestyle. Harvey, son of a Swiss-German druggist from North Dakota, attended dental school in California while serving in the U.S. Air Force. His Norwegian-American wife Bernice was born in Iowa and became a registered nurse. The couple married in 1944 and moved to the Danish town of Solvang, California, where Dr. Wipf established a dental practice. During their 35 years in Solvang they invested in a considerable amount of real estate. In that time their family grew to include a daughter and a son. Their daughter Judy followed in her father’s footsteps and became a dentist. Their son Michael chose to practice urology.

The Wipfs, active Lutherans, were involved with CLC from the start and were among the first 1,000 donors to the college. They loved to travel and participated in various CLU travel tours with students and faculty. But they also gave to CLU when they encouraged their daughter Judy to attend college at CLC. Judy graduated in 1970. Later, Judy’s daughters Ann ‘97 and Julie ’99 Baumgartner followed their mother’s example and came to CLU, making their mark as outstanding student leaders.

Upon Harvey’s retirement from dentistry in 1988, he and Bernice moved to Redlands to be near their daughter, who had established a dental practice in Rialto. When he and Bernice were not traveling, Harvey taught classes at Loma Linda’s school of nursing during his retirement. The couple enjoyed six years in Redlands prior to Harvey’s unexpected death in October 1994, just six weeks short of their 50th wedding anniversary.

Bernice had not previously been involved in the family’s business affairs, but as a widow she found herself inundated with decisions to make. Uppermost in her mind was her desire to create a permanent memorial to Harvey at CLU. Because CLU was then in the middle of a capital campaign, there were a number of options for her philanthropy. Because of their abiding belief in Lutheran higher education, Bernice ultimately chose to create an endowed undergraduate scholarship bearing both of their names. The Dr. Harvey and Bernice Wipf Scholarship is simply designated for a student of Christian faith with a minimum 3.0 grade point average.