Thorwald And Cathryn Rykken Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund at Luther Seminary

The Thorwald and Cathryn Rykken Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in memory of Pastor Thorwald Rykken and Cathryn Rykken by their four children: Anne Lunda, Elizabeth Rykken, Miriam Rykken Schulz, and Paul Rykken. Thorwald was born July 14, 1924, at the Bethany Indian Mission in Wittenberg, Wis., where his father was serving as a missionary among the Ho-Chunk, Oneida, and Stockbridge people. His mother taught at the mission school sponsored by the Norwegian Lutheran Church. Thor attended the mission school until 1930 when the family moved to Petersburg, N.D. Following graduation from Petersburg High School in 1941, Thor attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., graduating in 1947 with dual degrees in philosophy and the classics. Cathryn was born in Hatton, N.D., on Oct. 20, 1924, and graduated from Hatton High School in 1942. Cathy attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., a second-generation Cobber, graduating in 1946, with a dual degree in English and economics. She was a soprano soloist for the Concordia Choir. It was during her rendition of Stormy Weather that she first caught the eye of a young returning war veteran, Thorwald (Unk) Rykken, and the two married in 1948. They enjoyed over 64 years of marriage. After his graduation in 1951 from Luther Seminary, Cathy partnered with Unk on seven pastoral calls spanning 54 years, serving congregations in Dahlen, McCluskey, Cando, West Fargo, and Fargo, N.D.; and Black River Falls, Wis. They died six months apart in 2013. This fund provides scholarships annually for a financially deserving student in any degree program.