Concordia event thanks donors

About 150 alumni and supporters and 70 students, faculty and staff of Concordia gathered on Saturday, March 24 for the annual Donor Thank You Celebration. The highpoint of the event was the recognition of Dr. Rupert Dunklau. Dunklau received the Sower Award, Concordia’s premier philanthropic award. 

The keynote address for the ceremony was delivered by John Kuddes, a Concordia regent and foundation director. Kuddes and his wife, Jamie, are co-chairs for “Blessed to be a Blessing," Concordia’s current fundraising campaign.

“Concordia has been and continues to be incredibly blessed by the impactful Christian stewardship of Dr. Dunklau and the Rupert Dunklau Foundation,” said Pete Kenow, major gift officer, in his remarks at the event. “He is a living testimony of being blessed to be a blessing.”

Born and raised on a farm north of Arlington, Neb., Dunklau graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in business and in 1950 began working as a bookkeeper at Valmont, a farm equipment manufacturer in Fremont, Neb. By the time he retired from Valmont, the company had expanded globally and Dunklau was the executive vice president. He established the Rupert Dunklau Foundation, which provides funds to community organizations. Since 2005 the Rupert Dunklau Foundation has distributed over $5 million in grants to charitable organizations, including $1.3 million to Concordia University, Nebraska.