Ned Dean Family Scholarship

In a 1998 letter to Ned Dean’s wife Kathy, CLU’s interim president Dr. Howie Wennes wrote, “I have many wonderful memories of this faithful leader of a man with such gusto for life.” Whatever the task at hand, Ned exhibited a great enthusiasm for living. This held true for his eight years on CLU’s Board of Regents (1985-1993) as well as in other aspects of his life.

Ned was a prominent businessman in Northern California, a CPA who held top positions with corporations such as Hills Bros. Coffee, Round Table Pizza and Nestle Foods. He rounded out his career as chairman and CEO of The Pacific Bank in San Francisco. Ned was a person who took his faith to work with him every day. Few people wondered where he stood on any given issue. Ned was also a devoted family man. He and Kathy had three sons, all of whom were raised in the Lutheran faith. Ned was also a faithful church member, and the family was active in All Saints Lutheran Church in Novato.

Ned was a very good Christian steward of his earthly resources. One of his first philanthropic gestures to CLU was the creation of the Sigmund G. Sandrock Memorial Scholarship in 1991. It was a tribute to Kathy’s father, a pastor who had served the church for 36 years. Kathy had the privilege of getting to know several of the students who received the scholarship established in her father’s name.

In the family trust, Ned and Kathy designated a significant amount to go to California Lutheran University. Following Ned’s death in 2000, Kathy assumed the task of determining what would best represent the family’s legacy. Because Kathy had been deeply involved in the growth and special needs of not only her congregation but those of other churches in her synod, she chose an endowed scholarship that was a perfect fit with a new major at CLU. The new major, theology and Christian leadership, was designed with four emphases—Christian education, church administration, worship and music, and youth and family ministry.

The Ned Dean Family Scholarship is designed to be awarded to a junior or senior who feels called to ministry within the church as a vocation. The recipient may be either a religion major or a theology and Christian leadership major. Through the scholarship, the goals of the Dean family continue to be served, and the ministry will reap the benefits far into the future.