Harfield Hole Nursing Endowed Scholarship

Harfield Hole has lived through most of the challenges the 20th Century threw at the world, including the Great Depression. The lifetime of history, sacrifice, and hard work this man experienced is unfathomable to many people raised in this fast-paced time when so much is readily accessible. Harfield’s Depression-era perspective explains his belief in the importance of jobs and job training, and MSU Billings students have been beneficiaries of his goal to instill this belief in others. Born in 1915 in Poplar, Montana, to a “Norwegian but 100% Montanan” family, Harfield didn’t have a formal college education but learned from an early age that a good job was an opportunity for a good life. Graduating from high school at the height of the Depression, he found a job working with his father in Glasgow, then Wheeler, Montana, near the Fort Peck Dam, operating a pick-up and delivery business for Glasgow Cleaners. He served his country in the Army during World War II and, in 1945, moved to Billings, Montana. Harfield owned and operated a number of businesses in Yellowstone County. Despite having achieved financial security, his experience during the Depression left an indelible impression on Harfield that could not be erased. He wanted to help give others the opportunity to succeed and “have some way to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.” Harfield knew there would be a need for workers in the medical field, so he established the Hole Nursing Scholarship Endowment in 2002 to provide financial assistance to nursing students at MSU Billings. Harfield passed away in June 2014 at age 97. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2002-2003.