Commitment to family. Commitment to community. Commitment to the University of Sioux Falls. Those are three phrases that capture the influence and legacy of Jimmie Rysdon.
She began her service on the Sioux Falls College women's board, served a full term on the University of Sioux Falls board of trustees, and is now completing a full term and serving as the chair of the USF Foundation board. Each year a percentage of the Foundation's endowed funds provide scholarships to students now and in the future.
"Foundation giving is where my heart is," she says.
Jimmie feels she's not the typical board member, but she believes it's beneficial for the University to have people like her on the board—someone who has been a professional homemaker, not a business professional; someone who understands investing, but has a valued perspective as a mother and a parent.
She and her husband, Phil, have two sons who attended USF and their grandson is enrolled to attend this fall. "My grandson said he'd really like to attend a Christian college and I said 'Praise be.'" They support USF because it's "user-friendly," a place where students have access to their professors and unique opportunities to grow.
"Our son, Scott, spent a year as a missionary in Mexico and then returned to finish his degree," Jimmie says. "It was an experience that happened because of the influence and involvement of the USF campus."
When asked who influenced her to give, she cited her husband's family. "They have been major supporters of USF and many other places in Sioux Falls. The family business, Sioux Steel Company, felt like it was just part of what they did—give back to the community who gave so much to their family and company."
A Self-Taught Investor
To learn more about investing, Jimmie started a woman's investing club in 1984. They were part of a national organization and had assistance from others, and they spent time learning how to evaluate and invest in stocks. Sixteen women gave $25 a month to invest. A few dropped out and probably wished they would have remained as those invested funds doubled in value in just a few years.
"When my father passed away, he left my mother $30,000, and she quietly became a millionaire by her wise investing," Jimmie says. When her mom passed away, Jimmie used her inheritance to establish the Gardner Investment Company, where she's still a managing partner. Her mom's funds provide income for charitable gifts, for their family, and for Jimmie and her sisters to reconnect on an annual vacation.
The Rysdons have stayed connected to USF because they see the difference a Christian university can make in the lives of students. "When we hear students who praise the Lord for opportunities our scholarship has provided and doors it has opened, we know the college and our scholarship are making a difference in guiding lives," Jimmie says.
We are thankful for Jimmie and Phil's commitment to family and community, and for helping USF students become the people God intended them to be.
