Inga and Gerald Parkel Memorial Scholarship

This is the only scholarship at California Lutheran University that is in memory of a mother and her son. Inga Parkel was the beloved wife of Joseph Parkel, an engineer who worked for Lockheed California in Burbank. The family lived in North Hollywood, where Inga worked at Laurel Hall, a kindergarten-through-ninth grade school associated with Immanuel Lutheran Church. Inga and Joseph had two children, Gerald and Joyce, who both attended Laurel Hall. The entire family was actively involved in the life of Immanuel Lutheran during the time that Rev. Erling Wold was pastor and Dr. Allen Leland (later to become the dean of the CLU School of Education) was superintendent of the school.

Apart from their connection to CLC through Rev. Wold and Dr. Leland, the Parkels became directly involved with California Lutheran College in 1962 when Joyce enrolled as a freshman. She graduated in 1966 with a major in physical education and went on to teach physical education and physiology at the junior high and college levels. She ultimately retired from Oxnard College in 2006.

It was always Inga’s dream that her children would be able to attend college, and she was proud when Joyce chose to enroll at CLC. But Inga did not live to see her daughter graduate. In 1964 breast cancer claimed Inga’s life. At that point Joseph approached CLC President Raymond Olson about creating a memorial scholarship in his wife’s name.

Gerald Parkel was 22 months older than his sister Joyce. In 1966, after two years at the University of Southern California, he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served admirably in the Vietnam War. He died in combat in October 1967, just one month before he was scheduled to return home. To Joseph Parkel, adding his son’s name to the memorial scholarship seemed the natural thing to do. In addition to memorial gifts, the fund received $6,000 from Gerald’s life insurance policy.

The original intent of the Inga and Gerald Parkel Memorial Scholarship was that it be awarded to a woman athlete. However, when CLU became a member of SCIAC and NCAA Division III in 1988, member schools were no longer allowed to award scholarships in athletics. At that point Joyce re-designated the award for students majoring in exercise science and sports medicine with a preference to female students.