Nancy Forsyth Flanders ’54

THE BACKGROUND: Nancy came to Monmouth from Des Moines, Iowa. After attending a large high school, she didn’t want another crowded place. Through her Presbyterian church, she learned about Monmouth and was sold on the small liberal arts college after her visit. A physics major at Monmouth, her late husband Tom Flanders ’54 worked as an engineer in the food industry, including many years with the Beatrice Food Company.

THE GIFT: Nancy established a scholarship for students majoring in science in her and her husband’s name. The gift was created through a deferred gift; she named Monmouth College a beneficiary of her IRA. 

WHY SHE GIVES: “Tom and I started a trust in 2000,” said Nancy, who survived her husband of 63 years but has since passed away. “I decided over the last few years that I wanted to make a gift to Monmouth College. I know Tom would want that too. I started out with a $1,000 academic scholarship. My father died in August before the start of my sophomore year, and I really appreciated that I could get other scholarships to stay in school.”

WHEN AN ‘F’ IS A GOOD THING: “I met Tom at a mixer,” Nancy recalled. “Then in chapel (which had alphabetical seating), there was one person sitting between us because I was Forsyth and he was Flanders. She (Mary Fleschner Knobeloch) graciously gave up her seat so that I could sit next to him every day. He was my college sweetheart. Monmouth was a truly wonderful time in my life, and I have always looked back on those years with the fondest of memories.”