Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
By Micah Mertes
A family’s gift to Creighton University is one of the largest ever made to support unrestricted scholarships, which assist students from all schools and colleges.
The estates of alumnus Dr. Elno Zikmund, BS’41, and his wife, Tillie Zikmund, have invested more than $10 million in the Elno T. and Mathilda M. Zikmund Endowed Scholarship, which the couple created in 2010. Elno and Tillie Zikmund passed away in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Because the Zikmund Scholarship can be awarded to Creighton students in every school or college, its 80 recipients so far have come from a wide variety of professions, fields and backgrounds. The scholarship has supported alumni ranging from OBGYN physicians to accountants, from analytical chemists to campus ministers.
“With the wide-ranging support of the Zikmund Scholarship, students from many different fields are taking Creighton’s values into their communities, as Dr. Zikmund did,” said The Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, president of Creighton University. “I am truly grateful for the Zikmund family’s gift and for everything it will mean for our students and the places they serve.”
The Zikmunds’ gift, Fr. Hendrickson said, “is also timely in its support of the Forward Blue campaign and our priority to create and expand scholarship opportunities. In so many ways, the needs of our students propel Forward Blue."
With the family’s transformational gift, the scholarship continues a Creighton legacy started nearly 90 years ago when Elno Zikmund’s mother, Omaha nurse Hattie Zikmund, paid for her son’s Creighton education. Though Zikmund achieved his medical degree elsewhere, he attributed his formation as a person and success as a physician to his time at Creighton.
After proudly serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Zikmund set up his practice in Central City, Nebraska, where he served the community until retiring at 65 and moving to Omaha. Dr. Zikmund and his first wife — Janaan Zikmund, who passed away in 1962 — had four sons.
Dr. Zikmund stayed active well into retirement. He loved golf, flying airplanes (he owned several) and skiing. In fact, he skied into his 90s and won a slew of amateur medals in NASTAR (National Standard Race), the world's largest recreational ski and snowboard race.
During Zikmund’s many years as a Central City physician, a framed copy of his favorite poem hung in his practice: “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann (the full text of which you can read here).
“Desiderata” means “things that are desired or needed.” In the context of Ehrmann’s poem, the necessities are a list of virtues and behaviors one should strive for — a guide to being a good, happy, generous and helpful person.
Those who knew Dr. Zikmund knew a man who lived every line of the poem, excerpted below …
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others.
