Central College received a $100,000 gift from the estate of Nancy Kruidenier Shepard, a Des Moines native from a family with long ties to Central. The gift helped fund the first phase of the recent remodeling of the college’s Douwstra Auditorium.

“The Kruidenier family has a heritage deeply rooted in the Pella community and Central College,” President Mark Putnam says. “We are honored that she selected Central as a beneficiary in her estate and are grateful for her family’s many decades of support.

Putnam says Douwstra Auditorium is the heart of Central’s campus and the college recently completed an initiative to transform the space into a regional concert hall.