Established on 09.03.2021 by Cherryl I. Braton  

Cherryl Ilene Braton was born on September 18, 1949 and was the eldest child of Thorald D. and Inez B. Braton. She and her younger sister, Kathleen, grew up a farm south of Barnesville, MN, which had been in the Braton family ever since her grandfather acquired the farmland as a tree claim. Farmers could put in a claim for land through the Timber Culture Act, if they promised to plant and nurture the growth of trees on at least forty of their 160 acres of land for at least ten years.

Although Cherryl’s sister, Kathleen, was three years younger than her, they were very close and still are to this day. The girls grew up in the family house that her father was raised in, while their mother grew up on different farms near the Rothsay area. Cherryl enjoyed nature and the outdoors and helped with chores around the farm, including driving the tractor during haying season when she was older. Their dad also sold milk in cans, and in the summertime, Cherryl remembers washing the cans after the milkman collected the milk. Cherryl learned the importance of doing a good job, because if she did a poor job, someone from the creamery would call and report this to her dad. Fortunately, Cherryl says, “I think they only called Dad once!” 

Cherryl graduated from Barnesville High School in May 1967 and attended Moorhead Area Technical Institute, currently known as Moorhead State Technical and Community College. She received a diploma in Clerical Course in May 1968. Shortly after graduating, Cherryl landed her first job on June 1, 1968 in Concordia College’s business office working with accounts receivables. Through the years, she also held positions as accounts payable clerk, student loan processor, and as a bookkeeper and office manager in the years before her retirement on July 6, 2018. Her job became a rewarding lifetime career at Concordia.

Cherryl lived through many changes at Concordia College and in the world during those 50 years. She feels that advances in technology were the biggest of those changes. When she started in the business office, they had two Burroughs bookkeeping machines using ledger cards. One machine was for accounting transactions and the second for accounts receivable. She used the accounts receivable posting machine to keep track of student accounts. For monitoring sub-accounts, the office used green bar paper with pencils and erasers. Typewriters, calculators and a large mainframe computer in the basement of Lorentzsen Hall (known as the C-400 building at that time) were other pieces of equipment that were used in the business office.

Fall registration was another event that evolved significantly. Back in the day, student registration was a three-day event, run by a work force that borrowed employees from multiple offices. Staff would set up registration tables in the Fieldhouse, and by the time each student arrived at the Business Office table, they would be holding a packet of punch cards in their hands. Employees would then review the course cards to make sure each student was taking a “normal” load of classes, a less than “normal” load, or an overload. Students then registered for the appropriate music lessons as well as campus room and board. Cherryl and team would tally up the final cost and the students were required to either pay in cash or sign a promissory note to pay on their account in three payments. At the end of the day, staff would count their cash drawers and no one from the business office could leave until everyone’s drawers balanced. She added, “You did not want to be the person whose cash drawer did not balance!”

Cherryl took classes now and then at Concordia to further her education and keep up with the changing work world. She said it was a privilege and an honor to work at Concordia College for so many years, and, in 2007, was awarded the Ole & Lucy Flaat Distinguished Service Award for Support Staff Recipients, which recognized excellence in her long-term service to the College. The recipient is voted on by their peers and must be both outstanding in his/her professional role and a person who is committed to the mission and goals of Concordia College. 

One of Cherryl’s favorite memories was seeing the new students come to campus in the fall as freshmen. They were just out of high school with so many dreams and possibilities ahead of them. She then enjoyed the springtime four years later, when those same freshmen would complete their final year. She loved to see the students graduate and hear the news of them getting jobs and starting the next chapter in their lives. She feels the students kept her young all those years. Her message to the students receiving this special scholarship, “Good luck to all of you! I know you will go far in life.”

To honor and celebrate the 50 dedicated years that Cherryl Braton worked at Concordia College in the Business Office and because she believes strongly in an affordable education which gives students a solid background, Cherryl has created the Cherryl I. Braton Endowed Scholarship.

The Cherryl I. Braton Endowed Scholarship is awarded to students of any class majoring in any field of music.