Established on 12.14.1998 by Rev. Norris and Martha Stoa
Miriam was born on May 7, 1937, in Parshall, North Dakota, to the Rev. Norris and Martha Stoa, where they served First Lutheran Church for ten years.
In March, 1944, Miriam and her family moved to Morris, Illinois, where Pastor Norris served Bethlehem Lutheran Church for eleven years. Miriam completed most of her elementary and secondary school years there. She played flute and received many honors and excellent grades. She was a leader in Christian youth work, and was very active in Bible Camp at Lutherdale Bible Camp, Elkhorn, Wisconsin.
At the age of 9, she read through her Bible from cover to cover.
In 1955, Miriam attended Oak Grove Lutheran High School in Fargo for the last semester of her high school years, because her parents had taken a call to Denny Park Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington. She had a number of relatives, including Aunt Anna Jordahl, Director of the Concordia College Library, in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
In the Fall of 1955, Miriam enrolled at Pacific Lutheran College, Tacoma, Washington. She was active in Christian student affairs, band, "Spurs," and chorus. As a Junior in college, she was a student counselor and a leader in Christian student life.
Then, on March 7, 1958, came her tragic death. She and two of her dear friends, who also were Pacific Lutheran students, Diana Paul, and Jeanette Olson, were all killed instantly on an icy road eleven miles west of North Platte, Nebraska. Her car and a truck collided on the ice, on their way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the Lutheran Student Union annual convention.
Miriam had plans to become a parish worker and assistant to a pastor in the Lutheran Church. Scores of testimonies came from students and faculty regarding her Christian leadership and spiritual counseling to and for students in high school and college. Engraved in stone on her grave marker in the Pacific Lutheran Cemetery in Seattle are the words: "For me to live is Christ."
We trust this scholarship in her name will, for many years, help students receive an excellent Christian education at Concordia College.
The Miriam Irene Stoa Endowed Scholarship is awarded by the Office of Financial Aid to one or more students preparing for church professions, with a preference for those planning on enrollment at a Lutheran Seminary. Selection is based on financial need and scholastic achievement.