PEO Chapter AQ Wanda Wilson Memorial Nursing Scholarship

Wanda E. Valentine was born in 1923 in Austin, Minnesota. She graduated from St. Augustine (Pacelli) High School in 1940. In 1942, Wanda was a member of the first class to graduate from Austin Junior College, now Riverland.

During World War II, Wanda enlisted in the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps and served at Navy Hospitals in Memphis, Corpus Christi and in New Orleans. In 1947, Wanda married her high school sweetheart, Charles Wilson. The couple made their home in Austin, where they raised their four children.

Wanda was a member of a women’s organization named P.E.O., Chapter A.Q. For many years, Wanda served as head of the club’s scholarship committee to select the recipient of their annual scholarship. She always selected the recipient on the basis of financial need. After Wanda’s death in 2004, the club named their annual scholarship in her honor the PEO Chapter AQ, Wanda Wilson 2nd Year Nursing Scholarship.

In the fall of 2013 Chuck and his children sponsored an additional endowed scholarship for Riverland Community College students to honor Wanda, her work as a nurse, and her many years of dedicated service to the PEO Chapter AQ organization. This new scholarship is called the PEO Chapter AQ Wanda Wilson Memorial Nursing Scholarship.