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This fund was created in 2006, by Meredith (Kendall) Lovelass, ’73 and her husband, Tom Lovelass. Meredith and Tom intend to continue providing a scholarship annually, with matching funds as available through State Farm Insurance Company.

Meredith (Kendall) Lovelass received her degree in nursing from Mennonite College of Nursing in 1973 and went to work in the Intensive Care Unit at Mennonite Hospital and then in the Medical/Surgical Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bloomington, followed by jobs as an office nurse for a dermatologist, assistant director in a nursing home and operating room nurse. She helped open the first free-standing surgery center in Lancaster, Pa., prior to taking a job as a certified case manager for Core Source, which she said drew on all of her 22 years of medical experience.

After returning to Illinois in 1995 when husband, Tom, took a job as an attorney with State Farm Insurance Company, Meredith started Meredith’s Apartment Management, Inc., which she terms a family business. Through her company she remains connected to University and nursing students.

Although pursing a second career, Meredith remains committed to the “most satisfying and rewarding profession” of nursing. She continues her involvement with the college through her passion for education on Marfans Syndrome, a congenital disease that is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Kate, Meredith’s adult daughter, who has Marfan’s Syndrome, was fortunate to be diagnosed as an infant. Meredith and Kate provide Marfan’s education to Mennonite College of Nursing students with emphasis on signs and symptoms and the importance of early detection. Through the Meredith Lovelass Scholarship, Meredith will alleviate some of burden of financing a nursing education.