Established on 03.09.1987 by Roger Sandven, Kenneth Sandven, and Olger Sandven
Roger, Kenneth, and Olger Sandven desire to establish and endowment with Concordia College in remembrance and honor of their parents, Kittle Bernhard an Elvira (Trandum) Sandven. By establishing this endowment, the Sandven brother are reocgnizing the important role their parents and other pioneer North Dakotans played in the building and development of their communities, state, and nation.
Elvira Sandven was born in 1892 in Twin Valley, Minnesota. She later moved with her family to the Turtle Mountain foothills near Carbury, North Dakota, where her father farmed and operated a blacksmith shop in Carbury until moving to Oslo, Minnesota, in 1902. Elvira graduated from the University of North Dakota with a teaching certificate in the early teens. She placed a high priority on the importance of education and went on to living and teach school in Pekin and in McVille area in North Dakota. While living and teaching in the York and Leeds communities of North Dakota, Elvira met K. B. Sandven. They were married in her hometown of Olso, Minnesota, in June, 1919. They returned to the Sandven farm, located in Beaver Township of Benson County, which K. B.'s father, Lars B. Sandven, homesteaded in 1902.
K. B. dedicated his life to his community, family, and church. On their farm near York, North Dakota, both K. B. and Elvira exhibited a strong and dedicated work ethic, a characteristic of pioneering North Dakota farm families. Love for the land, their God, and their heritage are values the Sandven children learned from their pioneering parents, and to this day, treasure most.
The K.B. and Elvira Sandven Memorial Scholarship Endowment is awarded by the Office of Financial Aid to junior or senior students who possess strong leadership potential and have a record of superior academic performance. Preference is given to worthy students from York or Leeds, and other Benson county students.