John V. Nissly was born January 12, 1928 in Des Moines to John and Pauline (Brewer)Nissly. He attended Dallas County Country Schools through eighth grade and graduated from Dallas Center High School in 1945. In July 1946, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, in which he served as a clerktypist/payroll clerk at El Toro Marine Air Base near Santa Ana, California until being discharged in January 1948. Nissly received his B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University in 1950 and was an active member of the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity. After graduation he took a position with Equitable of Iowa Insurance Company in Spencer, IA. He worked for the company until1955 when he began working for his uncle at Osgood and Nissly as a Farm Manager Associate. In 1964, he became a partner in the business. After selling his interest in the business to his sons, Roger and Mike, in 1993, he continues to work part-time at the business.Nissly has been active in the Iowa Falls Rotary Club, the Elks Lodge, the Iowa and American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers chapters, Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity at ISU, and is a life member of the American Legion. Mary Lou (Christensen) Nissly was born October 25, 1927 in Ames to Nels and Verna (Johnson) Christensen. She attended North Grant Consolidated Elementary School and graduated from Ames High School in 1945. She received her B.S. in Institutional Management in 1949 from Iowa State University. Following graduation she worked for a year at the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchens in Des Moines. In August of 1950 she took a position with the Clay County Welfare Office in Spencer, IA. where she worked until 1955 when the family moved to Iowa Falls where John accepted a job with his uncle. Since January 1976, she has worked as a Tax Secretary for Nissly and Nissly. She has been a member of Chapter DV-PEO Sisterhood and Isabella Literary Society and was active in the Delta Zeta Sorority at ISU. In her spare time she collects Santas, Hummels, Hallmark ornaments among other things. On June 17, 1950 the Nissly’s were married in Ames. The couple has three sons: Roger V., Bruce C. and Michael J., along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They are 60-year members of the First United Methodist Church in Iowa Falls. The couple enjoys attending and watching ISU sporting events and spending time with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They have spent the past 50 summers at a family retreat at Ten Mile Lake in northern Minnesota. John and Mary Lou have been long-time supporters of Ellsworth Community College. John served as the treasurer of Friends of Calkins Nature Area for many years and he and Mary Lou have been supportive of the arts and academic programming of the college. They established this scholarship through the scholarship drive commemorating the 125th anniversary of the college in 2015.