Established on 04.30.2020 by the Gayle C. Bummer and the Curtis W. Bummer Family Trust
Curtis Wayne Bummer was born in North Dakota on November 19, 1929, to Hazel (Solberg) and Clarence Bummer. He grew up in Crosby, graduating from Divide County High School in 1948. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Concordia College in 1952, majoring in mathematics. Curtis served his country during the Korean War in the Army Signal Corps. Following his discharge, he moved to California to work in the new field of software engineering with Hewlett Packard, Boeing, Jet Propulsion Lab, and others.
Gayle Christine Brenden grew up in Scobey, MT, and was the first woman at Concordia to have a car. She recalls “back in the day” being the only woman to drive the lengthy distance from eastern Montana to Concordia and was met with great surprise and awe by Dean Dorothy Olsen, a story that Gayle loved to tell. Gayle graduated from Concordia College in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in psychology and elementary education.
Curtis and Gayle were married in Scobey on May 10, 1964. They raised three children, all of whom attended Concordia: Kristi Bummer ’87 of Billings, MT, Paul (Jeannie Nagore) Bummer ’89 of Tucson, AZ, and Philip Bummer ’93 of Glendale, AZ.
Curtis took a job with GE and prior to 1970 wrote the original program for “Cut, Copy and Paste” on their mainframe computer. Cut, Copy and Paste are related computer keyboard commands that offer a technique for transferring data through a computer's user interface. The cut command removes the selected data from its original position, while the copy command creates a duplicate; in both cases, the selected data is kept in temporary storage until the data is later inserted wherever a paste command is entered. The technique is still widely used today. Curtis retired from Honeywell in 1990 after writing digital cockpit instrumentation programs for the MD-80 and MD-11 aircrafts.
Both Gayle and Curtis were grateful for the education they received at Concordia College. They have created this scholarship to support the students who receive it, lessen any burden of their journey, and lead them towards a bright and rewarding future.
The Curtis and Gayle Bummer “Cut, Copy, and Paste” Endowed Scholarship is awarded by the Office of Financial Aid to students of any class year pursuing a degree in any field of study.