Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation

For good. For ever.

306 South University Avenue Mount Pleasant, MI, 48858 United States

(989) 773-7322

Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for all citizens of Isabella County, now and for generations to come, by attracting and holding permanent endowed funds from a wide range of donors, addressing needs through grant making and providing leadership on key community issues.

Nolan D. Stilgenbauer Scholarship Fund

Nolan Stilgenbauer established the Nolan D. Stilgenbauer Scholarship Fund in 2007 to provide scholarships to graduates of Shepherd High School who are pursuing a career in the field of agriculture.

Nolan Stilgenbauer

Farming has always been a family affair. Stilgenbauer’s great-grand parents, Henry and Laura Stilgenbauer, came to Shepherd from Wilmont, Ohio in 1887. Henry cleared forty acres just south of the Merillat School. He was a carpenter and built houses and barns in the Mt. Pleasant and Shepherd area. Nolan was born in 1933 to Royal (Pud) and Shirley, on the Ed Graichen farm on Millbrook Rd. (Grandparents, Glen and Nina Stilgenbauer, farmed there for 28 Years.) He attended Merillat School through the eighth grade.

Nolan Stilgenbauer

Nolan enjoys everything about farm life. He’s collected more than 240 John Deere tractor models and 160 farm show pieces. “I enjoy looking at them,” he said. “Some of them date back to the 1930s.”

Stilgenbauer went to work at Dow Chemical in 1951, but continued to help his dad and granddad on the farms. He served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in construction for the U.S. Air Force in Alaska in 1954 and was discharged in 1955. He retired from Dow in 1988.

Nolan Stilgenbauer

Scholarship Eligibility Criteria:

  • Applicant shall be a graduating senior or former graduate from Shepherd High School;

  • Applicant shall have demonstrated academic ability with a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average;

  • Applicant shall be attending or planning to attend an accredited college, university, or trade school;

  • Applicant shall have been active in a youth organization (i.e. 4H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Church Group, FFA).

Preferences:

  • Applicant shall be planning a career in the field of Agriculture; (View a list of agricultural careers here.)

  • Financial need shall be a factor.

  • Enjoy and actively participate in the outdoor sports of hunting and/or fishing.