citizens state bank and trust company

Citizens State Bank & Trust Company, Trustee for the H.O. Middlebrook Scholarship Trust, has announced the 2025 award recipient. The Middlebrook Scholarship was created by H.O. and Helen Middlebrook in memory of their son, James Holmes Middlebrook, who died in infancy. Distributions began in 1945, the year James would have entered college. The Middlebrooks themselves were administrators until 1962, when H.O. Middlebrook passed away. Mr. Middlebrook’s will stated that the scholarship be preserved in a permanent trust, with Citizens State Bank & Trust Company as successor administrator. The one-year scholarship was designed to help college students through that critical freshman year. To date, over 300 students have benefited from the Middlebrooks’ gift, totaling $224,700.00 from an original $40,000.00 contribution 80 years ago. This year’s recipient is Acacia Erdley.

Genevieve Strahan established a scholarship trust at Citizens State Bank & Trust Company in 1999. Now in its 27th year, the Trust has paid out over $48,350.00 to 56 graduates of Hiawatha High School.