Betty McNeely Endowed Scholarship Fund

The Betty McNeely Endowed Scholarship Fund was established in March 2020. Introduced to the depth and breadth of Lutheran theology as a member of the St. Olaf class of 1966, Betty developed her interest in being an active partner in ministry at the Lutheran student congregation at the University of Nebraska while she worked toward her masters in mathematics. In 1968, she moved to the Seattle area to start her career at Boeing, first as a software developer, then in management in the Defense and Space Division of Boeing, and finally at the corporate level. As a wife, mother, and computer professional, it took until 1980 for time and opportunity to cooperate in opening paths to greater participation in congregational ministry and leadership.

Betty’s involvement with Luther Seminary began in the winter of 1965/66 when she spoke for the first time at the seminary as part of the St. Olaf group that had worked at Tuskegee Institute the previous summer. But it was an invitation to participate in Stewardship 2000 at the Seminary that elevated her interest in actively promoting the seminary in the Pacific Northwest, supporting the seminary at a high level, and in encouraging philanthropy in general. To Betty, the existence a seminary with well-qualified faculty is imperative to the future of the church. Good preaching and teaching attracts people eager to learn and encourages them to teach the next generation, either by example or by supporting opportunities for their own ministry paths. But it is also important that graduates not be saddled with debt that limits their ability to serve wherever God calls them.