Mary Lucille Nelson Scholarship

The Mary Lucille Nelson Scholarship is created for students who have declared an interest in majoring in WSU’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences program. Other qualifications include a strong commitment to the nursing and health sciences professions, high ethical standards, and a willingness to participate in College of Nursing and Health Sciences activities designed to develop leadership skills.

Criteria

1. Each recipient must be an undergraduate student enrolled full-time (minimum 12 credit hours) at Winona State University.
2. Each recipient must be classified as a freshman or junior student.
3. The scholarship. is to be awarded, as a first priority, to graduates of Austin, Minnesota Senior High School, Austin Community College, or Austin Technical College. If there is no eligible candidate from those institutions, at the discretion of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, residents of the Minnesota counties of Mower, Freeborn, Steele, and Waseca may be considered for the award.
4. Each recipient must have a declared interest in majoring in Winona State University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences programs.
5. Other qualifications include a strong commitment to the nursing and health sciences professions, high ethical standards, and a willingness to participate in College of Nursing and Health Sciences activities designed to develop leadership skills.
6. The scholarship award is renewable for one additional year if the recipient meets the qualifications of the scholarship.

Biography/Motivation

Mary Lucille Arbingast was born at Brownsdale, Minnesota, on December 19, 1918, the daughter of Faye Oxley Arbingast and Clarence Earle Arbingast. She attended public schools in Brownsdale and Austin, Minnesota, and was graduated from Austin High School in June 1936. She was awarded a scholarship to attend Winona State University, but for personal reasons, it was necessary for her to decline. She married Stanley C. Nelson on March 1, 1946, at Brownsdale. She was a founding member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Austin. For many years, Mrs. Nelson served as office manager for Botsford Lumber Company (later, United Building Centers), at Austin.
Mrs. Nelson died on March 26, 1990. Cremains are interred in the Nelson family plot in the Enterprise Cemetery, Austin. Mrs. Nelson is survived by her husband, Stanley, and a brother, Dr. Stanley Arbingast.