Impact

This scholarship was created in honor of Roland Koester, whose sacrifice and hard work inspired this scholarship to help others access educational opportunities. Roland Koester was a long-time resident of St Paul. MN. After serving in the army at the end of WWII, he wanted to go to college but chose to help his widowed mother and care for his younger sisters. When his sisters graduated high school, Roland found a job as a Shipping Clerk and worked at the same company for almost 40 years. He lived simply, never married, and saved a portion of every paycheck. He peacefully passed away in 2017.
Roland was my uncle. and from his estate I established this fund to give back to the community he loved and to help provide a college education that he was unable to achieve for himself. Education is an important value to our extended family- 9 of his nieces and nephews (and their 11 children) either have an Assocfate’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree, a few with Master’s degrees and one with a Doctorate.