Raymond H. and Florence L. Sponberg

Raymond and Florence Sponberg were people committed to promoting world peace.
Raymond received his bachelor’s degree from Gustavus Adolphus in 1937. He joined the
United States Army Air Forces in 1942 and after his discharge in 1946 felt a strong urge to
promote the importance of peace in and around the world. Florence Sponberg received her
bachelor’s degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She taught high school for five years and English at Mankato State for twenty-seven years before retiring in 1980. During college Raymond worked construction while Florence held a secretarial position. They discussed the wage differential and how difficult it was for a woman to make a living on such a low salary. For this reason, their scholarship is stipulated for women. The Sponberg’s believed women had a greater need for the monetary opportunity in order to pursue higher education. Raymond passed away in 2000 at the age of 86, and Florence
passed away in 2014 at the age of 97.