Katherine Wall Redekop Scholarship

The Katherine Wall Redekop Scholarship was established by her children, Calvin, Jacob, Bertha, and Ella in 1989. Katherine was born April 28, 1901, in Mountain Lake, Minnesota, and died February 25, 1958, in Mt. Lake, Minnesota.

Katherine was always an advocate of education, although she herself did not have very much school. After her elementary years she attended the Christian school in Mountain Lake, one of the first girls to do so. When she was 14, her family moved to Montana. She started attending high school at Wolf Point, Montana; but went back to her family’s homestead after one semester because she was lonely. She wanted to pursue more education, but lack of money and family restrictions held her back. Despite the fact that she never finished high school, she always valued higher education and encouraged all of her children to go to college.

The Redekop family was poor and their life was often difficult; but Katherine was always optimistic. She firmly believed that if people worked hard, they could work up out of their adverse circumstances. She often told her children, “only through higher education can you escape the drudgery I experienced.” She wanted all of her children, to go to college, and not be held back by finances. Three of her children graduated from Goshen College, and Katherine proudly attended all of their graduations.

She was a very caring mother and a creative person who did a lot of gardening and writing. As a mother of five, she was devoted to all of her children and did her best to make their lives happy. She was concerned about and friendly to the unfortunate. She always welcomed into her home and fed the strangers who passed through town, and did her utmost to give what she could to those even less fortunate than herself.