Sharon Zerr-Peltner

This endowed scholarship is gifted by Sharon Zerr-Peltner, Ph.D., in memory of her
parents, Freda and Fred Zerr. Its purpose is to provide opportunities preferably for but
not limited to nontraditional students to pursue an education either full-time or parttime.
The scholarship is meant to assist working individuals now interested in attending
a university for the first time or for those whose education was previously interrupted,
especially US military veterans, immigrants and refugees.

Freda (Grenz) Zerr lived her entire life in ND with kindness to everyone. A homemaker,
she enjoyed crocheting, knitting, embroidery, applique, quilting, baking, playing piano
and singing. Fred Zerr left the Odessa region of Ukraine alone at the age of 17 and
obtained his American citizenship after serving in the US Army during WWI. He became a
successful businessman in farming and banking. Both Freda and Fred were Black Sea
Germans. Sharon earned a BA at Concordia, an MA at Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in
German at the University of Washington. She taught German briefly at NDSU, Concordia,
and MSUM, and lived 8 years in two countries overseas before settling in Seattle. At age
77 she returned to ND. Sharon considers herself fortunate to have had the opportunity
to enhance her education by traveling extensively throughout the world.