The Missouri Western Foundation received several gifts recently. Four of the gifts created new scholarships and one supplemented the Western Advantage Scholarship Fund.
LeRoy and Jeanne Eaton Trust
A distribution of almost $619,000 from the LeRoy and Jeanne Eaton Trust was added to the Western Advantage Scholarship fund. It is estimated that the gift will generate nearly $25,000 in scholarships each year for Missouri Western students.
LeRoy and Jeanne were active members of the St. Joseph community. They were both graduates of Central High School. LeRoy was an insurance agent and Jeanne worked in his office.
Euler Gift creates scholarship
The Missouri Western Foundation was recently notified that it was the beneficiary of the estate of Earl E. and Elmyra (Susie) J. Euler of Wathena, Kan., receiving approximately $474,000 from the Euler’s trust. The trust established an endowed scholarship to Missouri Western for students who graduate from Central High School in St. Joseph.
Susie graduated from Central in 1943 and from the St. Joseph Junior College in 1945. Earl taught school for a few years, but spent most of his life farming. Susie held different office jobs throughout her career and retired from a bank in Troy, Kan. She passed away in June 2008 and Earl passed away in February 2011.
The announcement of the gift was made at Central High School in September.
Dr. Robert Sigrist ’95, president of the Missouri Western Alumni Association and vice principal at Central, said Earl and Susie were his neighbors when he was growing up. “They were very nice, hard-working, down-to-earth people,” Robert said. “It’s amazing that they would pass on a gift like this that would impact so many people.”
“One of the reasons Earl and Susie lived so simply is that they intended to leave whatever they had to education,” said J.D. Euler, executor of their estate. “Susie loved to talk about Central and about Missouri Western. She never forgot either institution.”
David C. Horn School of Business Scholarship Fund
David Horn, of Houston, has established a $5,000 scholarship to be awarded each year to a full-time student in the Craig School of Business. Preference will be given to a third- or fourth-year student majoring in accounting who attended a Buchanan County high school for at least two years.
David is a 1966 graduate of the St. Joseph Junior College, and he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Missouri. “The Junior College was an excellent starting point and path for my college education, and I wanted to assist business students with their education endeavors,” David said.
Dr. Michael L. Schooley Elementary Education Scholarship
Dr. Michael Schooley, Deputy Executive Director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, recently established the Dr. Michael L. Schooley Elementary Education Scholarship.
Michael, from Alexandria, Va., is a 1974 elementary education major. Recipients of the scholarship must be full-time students and declared elementary education majors. Preference is given to students or students’ parents who attended or worked at one of the following schools where Michael was previously an instructor or principal: Edison Elementary or Humboldt Elementary, both in St. Joseph; Rock Bridge Elementary or Derby Ridge Elementary, both in Columbia, Mo.
“I believe strongly in the importance of quality teaching and wanted to give something back to a profession that has been very rewarding for me personally and professionally,” Michael said. “By establishing the scholarship, I hope it will assist some young educator in the beginning of his or her elementary teaching journey.”
Thad and Jeannetta Danford Scholarship
Dan ’78, and Chris ’78, Danford and Sally Danford recently established an endowed scholarship for nontraditional students as an 80th birthday gift to Dan and Sally’s mother, Jeannetta. The endowed scholarship is named the Thad and Jeannetta Danford Scholarship.
Jeannetta and Thad, who is deceased, are both alumni. Jeannetta graduated from the St. Joseph Junior College in 1952 and Missouri Western in 1972. Thad graduated from Missouri Western in 1973.
“Sally and I watched our parents go back to college as we were growing up. Graduation for them had a profound impact on our family. Part of it was their professional success after graduation, but part of it was their ambition and perseverance,” said Dan. “So it’s appropriate to create a permanent Missouri Western legacy through a scholarship program for nontraditional students.”