Mimi Diffley Memorial Employee Scholarship
Opens Mar 1 2024 12:00 AM (CST)
Deadline Jun 16 2024 11:59 PM (CDT)
Description

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Mimi Diffley was an employee of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota for more than 20 years. Mimi retired in 2005 due to advancing breast cancer and passed away in August 2007, after outliving her initial diagnosis and surviving almost six years with the disease. This scholarship was established in her memory.

Purpose: This scholarship supports current Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota employees in the Bemidji region seeking to further their health care education and advance their careers.  

Employees interested in applying for a scholarship must complete the application form. Applications will be reviewed by a volunteer scholarship committee.    

For an application to be considered complete, it MUST include all of the following ( Incomplete applications will not be considered):

  • One of the following documents verifying proof of enrollment
    • Copy of recent transcript
    • Letter of acceptance
    • Copy of recent tuition bill
  • Contact information for the school you will be attending and your student ID.
    • If a scholarship is funded, the check will be made payable directly to the college or university.
  • Two letters of recommendation 
    • Both MUST be signed by the referring person
    • Both MUST be dated
    • One MUST be from your supervisor and comments should specifically include:
      • Overall character of applicant, accountability, respect, and teamwork
      • Ability to complete tasks and achieve outcomes
      • Applicant’s involvement at Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota and the community to date

Eligible Employees:  

  • Must be currently employed by Sanford Health and working in the Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota/Bemidji region.  
  • Employee is in good standing, with no current disciplinary action pending at Sanford Health or their academic institution.  
  • Employee must have a cumulative 2.0 grade point average or above.

Award: Four $2,000 scholarships will be awarded. 

Award Distribution: Reimbursement will be sent to employee via direct deposit. Make sure to have your direct deposit set up in OneSource (Workday) prior to the end of the desired semester or before payment is to be sent. Click here for instructions if you need to set this up.

Donors: Employees of Sanford Bemidji, through their continued donations to this scholarship

Who was Mimi Diffley?

Mimi was a 20+-year employee of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota and retired in 2005 due to advancing breast cancer. She passed away in August 2007, after outliving her initial diagnosis and surviving almost six years with the disease. Even when she lost her vision in 2006 from complications related to her cancer treatments, she never lost her spirit and positive attitude.  

After Mimi’s death, her family partnered with the Sanford Health Foundation of Northern Minnesota to establish this scholarship endowment fund. We established the fund to both provide scholarships to Sanford employees seeking to further their career in a health-related field and to honor Mimi.

Mimi was born April 6, 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and graduated from Edina High School. She married Larry Diffley in 1966 and they moved to Los Angeles, California, where she started her nursing career. She attended the nursing program at El Camino College, earned her LPN license and then started working as a nurse at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital.

Mimi put her nursing career on hold when she and Larry moved to Bemidji in 1970 after co-purchasing Bemidji Aviation. She worked at Bemidji Aviation until 1977, when her third child was born. While raising her children, she commuted to and from Minneapolis to update her nursing license. She then started working at North Country Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. While balancing work and family, she furthered her education by attending Thief River College to earn her 2-year RN degree. She later attended Bemidji State University, where she achieved her goal of earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Mimi eventually transferred to the hospital's third floor rehabilitation unit, where she worked until her retirement.  

Mimi loved her career in health care and caring for patients. She always took the extra time to make sure her patients were comfortable and content, even if that meant skipping breaks or working late to complete paperwork. She thoroughly enjoyed her work and also cherished the close friendships she developed with her colleagues.

Mimi had a zest for life and a great love of family and friends. She was caring, easy-going, funny and courageous and had a great laugh and a lot of love. She enjoyed singing in Sweet Adelines and the Bemidji Chorale, was a member of P.E.O. and co-founder of the Bemidji Breast Cancer Support group. She enjoyed golfing, playing tennis, cross-country skiing, travel, music, playing piano, the Minnesota Twins and vacationing in her Sun City, Arizona, vacation home. The center of Mimi’s life was her close-knit immediate and extended family.  

For questions or technical assistance, please email EducationalAssistance@sanfordhealth.org.

Apply

Mimi Diffley Memorial Employee Scholarship


Please open this link in Chrome!

Mimi Diffley was an employee of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota for more than 20 years. Mimi retired in 2005 due to advancing breast cancer and passed away in August 2007, after outliving her initial diagnosis and surviving almost six years with the disease. This scholarship was established in her memory.

Purpose: This scholarship supports current Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota employees in the Bemidji region seeking to further their health care education and advance their careers.  

Employees interested in applying for a scholarship must complete the application form. Applications will be reviewed by a volunteer scholarship committee.    

For an application to be considered complete, it MUST include all of the following ( Incomplete applications will not be considered):

  • One of the following documents verifying proof of enrollment
    • Copy of recent transcript
    • Letter of acceptance
    • Copy of recent tuition bill
  • Contact information for the school you will be attending and your student ID.
    • If a scholarship is funded, the check will be made payable directly to the college or university.
  • Two letters of recommendation 
    • Both MUST be signed by the referring person
    • Both MUST be dated
    • One MUST be from your supervisor and comments should specifically include:
      • Overall character of applicant, accountability, respect, and teamwork
      • Ability to complete tasks and achieve outcomes
      • Applicant’s involvement at Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota and the community to date

Eligible Employees:  

  • Must be currently employed by Sanford Health and working in the Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota/Bemidji region.  
  • Employee is in good standing, with no current disciplinary action pending at Sanford Health or their academic institution.  
  • Employee must have a cumulative 2.0 grade point average or above.

Award: Four $2,000 scholarships will be awarded. 

Award Distribution: Reimbursement will be sent to employee via direct deposit. Make sure to have your direct deposit set up in OneSource (Workday) prior to the end of the desired semester or before payment is to be sent. Click here for instructions if you need to set this up.

Donors: Employees of Sanford Bemidji, through their continued donations to this scholarship

Who was Mimi Diffley?

Mimi was a 20+-year employee of Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota and retired in 2005 due to advancing breast cancer. She passed away in August 2007, after outliving her initial diagnosis and surviving almost six years with the disease. Even when she lost her vision in 2006 from complications related to her cancer treatments, she never lost her spirit and positive attitude.  

After Mimi’s death, her family partnered with the Sanford Health Foundation of Northern Minnesota to establish this scholarship endowment fund. We established the fund to both provide scholarships to Sanford employees seeking to further their career in a health-related field and to honor Mimi.

Mimi was born April 6, 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and graduated from Edina High School. She married Larry Diffley in 1966 and they moved to Los Angeles, California, where she started her nursing career. She attended the nursing program at El Camino College, earned her LPN license and then started working as a nurse at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital.

Mimi put her nursing career on hold when she and Larry moved to Bemidji in 1970 after co-purchasing Bemidji Aviation. She worked at Bemidji Aviation until 1977, when her third child was born. While raising her children, she commuted to and from Minneapolis to update her nursing license. She then started working at North Country Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. While balancing work and family, she furthered her education by attending Thief River College to earn her 2-year RN degree. She later attended Bemidji State University, where she achieved her goal of earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Mimi eventually transferred to the hospital's third floor rehabilitation unit, where she worked until her retirement.  

Mimi loved her career in health care and caring for patients. She always took the extra time to make sure her patients were comfortable and content, even if that meant skipping breaks or working late to complete paperwork. She thoroughly enjoyed her work and also cherished the close friendships she developed with her colleagues.

Mimi had a zest for life and a great love of family and friends. She was caring, easy-going, funny and courageous and had a great laugh and a lot of love. She enjoyed singing in Sweet Adelines and the Bemidji Chorale, was a member of P.E.O. and co-founder of the Bemidji Breast Cancer Support group. She enjoyed golfing, playing tennis, cross-country skiing, travel, music, playing piano, the Minnesota Twins and vacationing in her Sun City, Arizona, vacation home. The center of Mimi’s life was her close-knit immediate and extended family.  

For questions or technical assistance, please email EducationalAssistance@sanfordhealth.org.

Apply
Opens
Mar 1 2024 12:00 AM (CST)
Deadline
Jun 16 2024 11:59 PM (CDT)