J.D. and Lucille Risser Nursing Scholarship Fund

Lucille Stroman Risser was an independent woman during a time when it was quite unusual for women to be business leaders.  She was an entrepreneur who worked to provide nice clothing for women in all walks of life – from housewives to career business women like herself.  She and her husband, J.D. Risser, built their wealth through her business, Lucille’s Apparel, which started in Goshen in the 1940s and lasted well into the 1970s.

Lucille started the business in the front of their home before converting an entire building on the east side of South Main Street in Goshen, just south of Madison Street, to house the business for many years.  Ask almost any woman who lived in Goshen during that time and she will remember Lucille fondly with the comment “I could always find something I liked there.”  Lucille understood women.  She balanced her business career with being a mother and spouse, and she did it admirably.  Lucille died at age 96 in September 2003.

In their later years, both J.D. and Lucille were cared for by their nephew and his wife, Doug and Sharon Risser.  Both Doug and Sharon are alumni of Goshen College where Sharon earned her nursing degree in 1974.  Lucille expressed much appreciation for the loving, professional care that Sharon provided.  Since both Doug and Sharon are Goshen College graduates and Sharon received her nurse’s training at GC, the Risser Nursing Scholarship is designed to encourage future Goshen College students to pursue a nursing degree and dedicate themselves to serving others.