Garmong Scholarship

Wabash Valley students are encouraged to apply for the Garmong Scholarship, which was established at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology by C.H. Garmong & Son Inc. to honor the company's founder and successful Terre Haute entrepreneur, Claude H. Garmong.

The winners of the scholarship for the 2008-2009 school year are:

Timothy Kendzlor
Lindsay Klaetsch
Jeffrey Kruchkow
Raymond Lagomasino

Selection Process

Scholarship candidates for the Claude H. Garmong Scholarship are selected by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technologies Financial Aid Committee in consultation with the family and C.H. Garmong & Son Inc.

Candidates are selected using the following criteria:

Student's academic performance
Student's character
Proven need for scholarship assistance
Children of employees of Garmong & Son, Inc.
Children of customers of Garmong & Son, Inc.
Descendants of C.H. Garmong

How to Apply

Potential candidates for the Claude H. Garmong Scholarship Fund (click here for a brochure) may inquire with the Financial Aid Office at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology through the following address:

Director of Financial Aid
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
5500 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47803
(812) 877-8259

The Garmong Family: A Rose-Hulman Family Tradition

Claude H. Garmong was born in a log cabin with six brothers and sisters in Marshall, IL, in 1881. He quit school in the sixth grade to get a job working for a rail company in Terre Haute. Claude married Henrietta Block, a German immigrant, and had one son, Karl R. Garmong.

In 1923, Claude Garmong started his own company to build upper-end quality homes. Soon, he was a major player in the housing development market in Terre Haute, establishing subdivision plans for Edgewood Grove, located on the city's east side. When World War II slowed housing construction in the 1940s, Garmong used his men and tools to make wood boxes for area munitions companies. These boxes were sent overseas.

A measure of success during this period was sending children to college, which Garmong accomplished by sending his son, Karl, to Rose Polytechnic Institute. Being artistic, Karl was the first Architectural Engineering graduate (1931) from the school. He joined his father's company in 1935 and started the concept of designing and building commercial projects, using his training from Rose Poly. Schools, gas stations and churches were the company's main focus until 1974.

Karl Garmong expanded the company by patenting the original wood casement window, manufactured in what is now one of Garmong's warehouses. Garmong's son-in-law, Kenneth Hannum (1956 Rose graduate), joined the firm as an industrial engineer and changed the market to commercial and manufacturing projects. In 1989, David Hannum (1981 Rose-Hulman graduate) joined the firm to continue the evolution within the family. He is the first, third-generation graduate in Rose-Hulman history. Under David's leadership, the company has added full service engineering and architectural design; design-build capability of large industrial projects; and financing and development capabilities of commercial or industrial projects.

In 2004, wanting more time to pursue strategic customer initiatives, David became Chief Executive Officer. He selected Ralph E. Wagle, P.E., also a Rose-Hulman graduate, as President of Garmong Construction Services.

Of the five company presidents, one founded his own company as a stubborn risk-taker, and the other four are Rose-Hulman graduates, licensed professional engineers, and resourceful entrepreneurs.

Garmong has maintained the original emphasis of "quality first," and is still known today as the Wabash Valley's finest quality commercial builder. David Hannum says, "The company's history would have been quite different if Rose-Hulman wasn't local and available to area families. That's why the Garmong family started the Claude Garmong Scholarship Fund to help ensure the availability of an outstanding professional education to other area families for generations."