GRAYS HARBOR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

SCHOLARSHIPS

---

Grays Harbor Community Foundation

Scholarships

Abel-Weatherwax Family Scholarships

The Abel family was related to the Weatherwax family through marriage.  Dr. Scott Weatherwax was the trustee of the Abel-Weatherwax Foundation (a private foundation) that was set up by his mother, Marian.  The Abel-Weatherwax Foundation has for years supported the Grays Harbor Community Foundation work through donations to accomplish certain work in the community including providing scholarships.  Since the death of Dr. Weatherwax, the new trustee, his daughter Paige Hounsley continues support of the foundation and scholarships for Grays Harbor students.  The Abel-Weatherwax Family Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

A. M. and May Abel Memorial Scholarship

Anthony M. Abel, brother of W. H. Abel of Montesano, was born in Sussex, England and raised in Salina, Kansas.  He earned his law degree from the University of Kansas, and established a successful law practice in Aberdeen in 1903.  There he married May Rosmond.  Abel went on to become one of western Washington's most highly regarded lawyers.  The A. M. Abel Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

W. H. and Ella Abel Memorial Scholarship

Born in Sussex, England in 1870, William H. Abel was raised and educated in Salina, Kansas.  In 1892, he moved to Montesano in what was then called Chehalis County, marrying Ella Rosmond in the same year.  A school teacher and newspaper editor before being admitted to practice law in 1894, W. H. Abel went on to become one of the state's leading attorneys.  He worked on many of the most important trials of his time, including the prosecution of the IWW after the 1919 Armistice Day killings in Centralia.  A powerful figure in county politics, Abel also served on several important statewide boards, including the Washington State Joint Board for Higher Curricula and the Canal Commission.  He was an insatiable reader and dedicated supporter of libraries, donating hundreds of volumes to libraries at Washington State and Gonzaga Universities, as well as to the Montesano Public Library, which today bears his name.  The W. H. Abel Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

 

The Officer Donald M. Burke Memorial Scholarship Fund

Donald Martin Burke was hired by the Hoquiam Police Department on November 18^th, 1977.

On Wednesday, April 16^th, 1980 at about 5:15 pm, what started as a “routine traffic stop” ended in tragedy when Officer Burke was murdered after a short pursuit.  He didn’t know it at the time but the car he was chasing was carrying 2 career criminals.

With Officer Burke in pursuit of their beat up station wagon the car ran off the road and one of the men jumped from the car, ran back to Burke’s patrol car and thrust the gun at Burke’s head to shoot him.  Officer Burke grabbed the gun and a life and death struggle ensued.  Don lost his grip on the gun and was shot.

Mortally wounded, Burke staggered from his patrol car and returned fire at his assailant while taking fire from both men.  His assailant got back in the car and it sped away.  Burke continued firing at the fleeing car until he was out of ammunition and collapsed to the ground behind his patrol car where he died.  He was 37 years old and was the 24^th Law Enforcement Officer in the United States to be killed in the line of duty in 1980.  After a short pursuit the car ran off the road again, and a gun battle ensued.  One assailant was killed and the other captured. He died in the state penitentiary at Walla Walla on March 24^th, 1982 where he was serving a life sentence.

Officer Donald M. Burke was laid to rest by his fellow officers and a stunned community on April 22^nd, 1980 at Sunset Memorial Park in Hoquiam.  He was posthumously awarded the American Police Hall of Fame Medal of Honor on May 6^th, 1980 as well as the Washington State Law Enforcement Medal of Honor on May 16^th 1997.  His name has been added to the rolls of those brave officers who’ve lost their lives in the line of duty at the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial in Olympia, Washington and the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Officer Burke’s memory has stayed alive throughout the years as each spring The Aberdeen Daily World presents The Donald M. Burke Memorial Award to a Twin Harbors officer who exemplifies professionalism, courage and community service.  His memory also lives on through this scholarship fund, which is established in his honor to help the children and relatives of local law enforcement officers to continue their under-graduate, graduate, and post-graduate studies.

 

Lydian Bush Memorial Scholarship

 

A graduate of Lawrence College and Wisconsin University, Miss Lydian Bush taught Latin at Aberdeen's Weatherwax High School from 1916 until her retirement in 1947.  She was respected by faculty and students alike for her quality teaching, high standards, and friendly manner.  The 1947 Quinault yearbook predicted that her life – described as an "example of gracious living" – would be remembered "long after `Veni, Vidi, Vici' sinks into the bottomless pit of once-remembered but now-forgotten knowledge."  The Lydian Bush Memorial Scholarship was established in 2001 by one of Miss Bush's students from the 1920s who, nearly 80 years later, still vividly remembers her as both an excellent teacher and a good friend.  The scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

 

Dr. John D. "Jack" Ehrhart Memorial Scholarship

 

Dr. John D. Ehrhart was a standout athlete in tennis, football, and basketball who graduated from Hoquiam High School in 1935 and went on to study at Stanford University and earn his M.D. degree from Stanford Medical School.  In high school, Jack won the Pacific Northwest Junior Tennis Championship, and in later years he was instrumental in helping young people learn tennis.  He remained an avid sports fan all his life.  He practiced medicine in Aberdeen for nearly 30 years before his life was cut tragically short in 1974 when the plane he was piloting through dense fog crashed in the hills of East Aberdeen.  The Dr. John D. "Jack" Ehrhart Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

Grays Harbor Community Foundation Scholarships

Several scholarships funded by anonymous donors are called simply the “Grays Harbor Community Foundation Scholarships” and are open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

 

George H. Hitchings Memorial Scholarship

 Born in Hoquiam in 1905, George H. Hitchings grew up in a family of shipbuilders.  Hitchings's father, George, Sr., worked at and eventually managed the Hoquiam shipyard that his father-in-law, Peter Matthews, established in 1897.  A master shipbuilder like his father before him, George, Sr., eventually became a noted marine architect.  The family left Hoquiam when George was five years old, but those early connections were still traceable in 1990 when, as an esteemed scientist, he returned to Hoquiam for the Centennial celebration.

 In 1988 Dr. Hitchings shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries that led to the development of a series of new drugs, including drugs for leukemia, malaria, and gout.  A graduate of Seattle's Franklin High School, Hitchings studied chemistry at the University of Washington and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1933.  In the same year he married Beverly Reimer, a highly artistic and intelligent painter, writer, and teacher from Boston.  Dr. Hitchings's research and teaching career carried them from Harvard's Huntington Laboratories and School of Public Health to the Wellcome Research Laboratories in New York.  The initial research that led to his receiving the Nobel Prize was conducted at Burroughs Wellcome Co. in the mid- to late-1940s. 

From the late 1960s until his death in 1998, Dr. Hitchings became increasingly involved with philanthropy.  He served as President of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a nonprofit foundation which supports biomedical research, and he led several charities in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina, where Burroughs Wellcome had relocated in 1968.  In 1983, Dr. Hitchings founded the Greater Triangle Community Foundation, which serves the Triangle area.

On the occasion of his receiving the Nobel Prize, Dr. Hitchings wrote:

            My greatest satisfaction has come from knowing that our efforts helped to save

            lives and relieve suffering.  When I was baptised, my father held me up and

            dedicated my life to the service of mankind.  I am very proud that, in some measure,

            I have been able to fulfill his hopes.

While preference will be given to applicants interested in studying science or medicine, the George H. Hitchings Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

Dr. John C. and Else V. Korvell Memorial Scholarship

Else ("Elsa") Veile Korvell was born in Worland, Wyoming of Danish immigrants. She was one of two identical twins. Both sisters were interested in nursing and started their studies at the University of Denver. Else transferred to the University of Washington, completing her nursing degree with a specialty in public health. While her fiancé, Jack, completed his UW degree, Else returned to Wyoming working as a public health nurse in rural areas.

While raising her family of three in Hoquiam, Else became involved in civic duty, serving on the planning commission, was appointed to various state‑wide commissions by Governor Dan Evans and later, elected as Hoquiam's first female city council member. She also had a keen interest in the arts and music. Else was active with the "Community Theatre" organization and the Grays Harbor Opera Guild.

Jack Korvell was born in 1915 in Chicago, III of Polish immigrants. His family moved to Port Townsend WA where he spent the bulk of his youth. Daily, before school, Jack worked stacking wood for the local hospital's boiler. It was at that time he was taken "under wing" by a couple local doctors who fueled his interest in science and medicine. Upon graduation, he attended the University of Washington and then earned his medical doctorate at the University of Louisville. It was at UW he met his future bride, Else Veile.

Shortly after his medical degree, he served in WW2 as a Navy surgeon in the Pacific theatre. Upon his return to Seattle, the family moved to Hoquiam, about 1949, to start a medical practice. The pictures on the office wall were barely hung when he was recalled to serve in Korea. This time, he was assigned to the Marine Corps. After the war, he finally was able to start that medical practice which lasted until he was nearly 80 years old. That practice was a true small town family practice including everything from obstetrics, a geriatric specialty, surgery, and as he used to say ‑ even a little veterinary work!

Both Else and Jack were dedicated to the idea that a struggling student, with a little help, could realize their dreams. For example, they were prime sponsors of Grays Harbor's "Dollars for Scholars" fund at Grays Harbor College.

It is with that idea that this scholarship was created in their name. This scholarship is for $1,000 for one year to study in any field.

Lyle Lancaster Memorial Scholarships

 

Lyle Lancaster, a life-long Grays Harbor resident and businessman, directed in his will that his entire estate should be used to establish a permanent scholarship endowment fund for gifted students from Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties.  This fund, established in 1999 upon Lyle's death, is now the core of the Grays Harbor Community Foundation’s Scholarship Program.  

 

Born in 1903 to Elma pioneers Roy and Nora Randall Lancaster, Lyle began his working career in Grays Harbor's thriving logging industry.  Lyle's next step was to purchase a print shop in Aberdeen, which he later sold to start up Lancaster's, a gift and hobby shop at Market and Broadway.  He married Gertrude Morrison in 1928 and kept their marriage strong until her death in 1987.  In retirement, he maintained a large garden and raised rhododendrons and orchids around his Central Park home.  All who knew Lyle knew him as a fiercely independent, honest, and hard-working individual. 

 

Well read and keenly interested in the world around him, Lyle became in his later years deeply concerned with how to better young people's lives through education.  This concern ultimately led him to establish what would become the Grays Harbor Community Foundation Scholarship Program.  While Lyle and Gertrude had no children of their own, their legacy will continue to benefit the children of countless generations to come.  The Lyle Lancaster Memorial Scholarships are open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

 

 

Lyle and Elizabeth Laughead Scholarships

 

Aberdeen resident Lyle Laughead, a 1949 graduate of Wishkah High School, created the Lyle and Elizabeth Laughead Scholarships in memory of his wife, Elizabeth.  The scholarships are awarded to students who will attend a four-year college or university.  Preference for one of the Laughead Scholarships will be given to graduates of Wishkah High School, if possible, depending on the number of eligible applicants. 

 

Dr. Robert Mandich Scholarship

Bob Mandich graduated from Hoquiam High School as the Valedictorian in the class of 1957.  He received a $750 scholarship for four years which he used to attend the University of Washington.  Without this scholarship he would not have been able to attend college at all.  Upon graduation from the U. of W. he entered Dental school and had a rewarding career as a dentist.

Now retired, in his 70’s, Dr. Mandich wanted to provide an opportunity to attend college, for another outstanding Hoquiam High School graduate.  Therfore, he established the Dr. Robert Mandich Scholarship Fund at the Grays Harbor Community Foundation in the fall of 2004.

This scholarship is for $3,750 per year for four years, for a total of $15,000 to a four year institution in any field of study.

William and Bess Osheroff Memorial Scholarship

Dr. William Osheroff, a highly respected physician who practiced medicine on Grays Harbor for over 30 years, married Bessie Anne Ondov, a nurse working at Queens General Hospital in New York City, on November 27, 1941.  During World War II, Dr. Osheroff served as an officer in the Army Air Corps.  The Osheroffs moved to Aberdeen at the end of the war, and Dr. Osheroff joined the staff of Grays Harbor Community Hospital.  He worked there and at St. Joseph’s Hospital until his death in 1977.

William Osheroff was born in Omaha and grew up in Erickson, Nebraska.  He earned his Bachelor of Science and his Masters and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Nebraska.  A member of the Grays Harbor Medical Association and the American Medical Association, Dr. Osheroff became known on the Harbor as an excellent physician who cared deeply about the community.  A general practitioner, he trained to work as a cardiologist and introduced cardiac care services to the Harbor after recognizing that such services were badly needed in the community.  Before the technology became commercially available, Dr. Osheroff developed a device for sending EKG tracings over the phone, allowing him to keep better track of his patients' heart conditions.  In 1972, he became a member of the American College of Cardiology. 

Like her husband, Bess Osheroff cared deeply about the communities of Grays Harbor and worked to improve the quality of life and health of her neighbors.  Born in Jessup, Pennsylvania and raised in Emporia, Virginia, Bess Osheroff became a Registered Nurse through New York City's Cumberland Hospital School of Nursing.  In Aberdeen, her home for over 50 years, she volunteered for the YMCA and the American Medical Association Education and Research Foundation (AMA-ERF), which honored her ten years of service with both State and National Service Recognition Awards.  Together, Bess and her husband helped organize the first Red Cross Blood Drive on Grays Harbor.  Bess continued to organize blood drives for twenty years.  William and Bess had a daughter and four sons, one of whom died in 1977.  Bess died in November 1996, a month after seeing her son Doug, a Stanford physics professor, win the Nobel Prize in Physics. 

While preference will be given to applicants interested in studying science or medicine, the William and Bess Osheroff Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

Dorothea Parker Memorial Scholarship

A resident of Hoquiam for over 50 years, Dorothea Parker dedicated much of her life to voluntary service.  She graduated in 1937 from Leavenworth High School and earned her Bachelor's degree in education from Central Washington College.  She taught school in Renton before marrying Omar Parker in 1945.  When they moved to Hoquiam in 1949, Dorothea taught for one year at Hoquiam's Central Elementary School.  A member of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Aberdeen, she taught Sunday school from 1949 until 1979, when she joined Saron Lutheran Church in Hoquiam.  In 1976 Dorothea was appointed by the Mayor of Hoquiam to help organize the Polson Museum, and for over twenty years she served on its Board of Directors and volunteered countless hours to help organize and display the museum's collection.  In 2000, the Polson Museum honored her with a Lifetime Service Recognition Award.  At home, she enjoyed cultivating roses and collecting antiques.  The Dorothea Parker Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

Gladys Phillips Memorial Scholarship

 

Gladys Phillips, the second of four daughters of former Aberdeen Mayor and Superior Court Judge J. M. Phillips, began practicing law in Aberdeen in 1937, the same year she joined three other women in graduating from the University of Washington Law School.  Gladys quickly earned a reputation – a reputation she maintained for over 60 years – as one of Grays Harbor's most intelligent and formidable lawyers.  With both an "encyclopedic knowledge of the law" and a love of roses, ballet and beautiful words, she was to her clients not only a trusted advisor but also a cherished friend.  As a community activist, she helped establish and lead the Bishop Foundation, served as a state representative, worked to erect the Aberdeen YMCA, and guided the creation of the Grays Harbor Community Foundation.  The Gladys Phillips Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

 

Liz Preble Memorial Scholarship

 

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and raised in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Liz Preble worked as a travel agent for Durney Travel and was herself a world traveler.  With husband Bob she saw all of Europe and most of Latin America.  She toured China, the Soviet Union, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia.  In Aberdeen, her home for 54 years, she was active in over a dozen community organizations, including St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, the Friends of the Aberdeen Timberland Library, Chapter AK of the PEO Sisterhood, and the Pacific Peaks Girl Scouts Council. 

 

As patrons of the arts, Liz and Bob helped lead community efforts to install a George Tsutakawa fountain in front of Aberdeen's City Hall and the bronze owl by Benny Bufano at the entrance to the Aberdeen Timberland Library.  The Liz Preble Memorial Scholarship is open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

J. M. Weatherwax Memorial Scholarship

A native of New York who came to Washington by way of Michigan, John M. Weatherwax arrived on the shores of the Chehalis river in April 1884 at the age of 56.  He promptly set men to work building Aberdeen's third sawmill using equipment from a Michigan sawmill he had disassembled and shipped around the Horn.  He brought with him three brothers, several longtime associates, and the families of each of these men.  From those early days until his death in 1896, J. M. Weatherwax worked in countless ways to help establish the new city, from serving as mayor and helping Sam Benn plot out land for dozens of homes he would later help build, to erecting several churches, building St. Joseph Hospital, and bringing the railroad to Aberdeen. 

Ben S. and Blanche Weatherwax Memorial Scholarship

Ben S. Weatherwax came to Grays Harbor with his uncle's party from Michigan.  Ben's father, Capt. Benjamin K. Weatherwax, had been killed in the Civil War, leaving J. M. and his other brothers to care for the captain's family.  A skilled woodworker who enjoyed working in his shop at home, Ben married Blanche Karshner of Sandusky, Ohio.  Beginning his career in Grays Harbor's booming logging industry, he eventually became President of Western Lumber Co. 

Ben K. and Marian Weatherwax Scholarship

Ben K. Weatherwax is perhaps most widely remembered as the popular radio commentator whose "Hometown Scrapbook" series kept pre-television listeners entertained and informed with local history and current affairs.  A graduate of Weatherwax High School, he attended Washington State College, the University of Oregon, and Oregon State College.  In World War II, he served in the Marine Corps, surviving Pearl Harbor and fighting primarily in the South Pacific. 

He worked in radio before and after the war, starting in 1934 one of the state's first newscasts on KXRO, and later owning station KBKW.  Ben started his career as an architect, however, at a Seattle firm in 1931.  Five years after his 1934 marriage to Marian Abel, he founded Weatherwax and Street, the Aberdeen firm which he and Robert Street reorganized after the war.  By 1952 Ben's work as a building contractor had become his main focus.  He built in all over 160 homes on Grays Harbor.  A member of the American Legion and VFW, he also served on Aberdeen's School Board and was an active member of the Western Washington Contractors' Association.

 Dr. Scott A. Weatherwax

Dr. Scott A. Weatherwax was born September 25, 1940 in Aberdeen, Washington, to Marian Abel and Ben K. Weatherwax.  He graduated from J.M. Weatherwax High School in Aberdeen where he was a stand-out in basketball, a varsity baseball pitcher, a member of Honor Society, and ASB President.  He went on to the University of Puget Sound where he was a small-college All American basketball star.  He then attended the University of Washington Dental School, served two years in the U. S. Army, and had a successful career in dentistry in Tacoma. 

He retired to Grays Harbor where he became actively involved on the Board of Directors of the Grays Harbor Community Foundation as its Scholarship Committee Chairman, and a member of the Finance Committee and Grants Committee.  His passions were sports, music (he played at least four instruments), and helping improve Grays Harbor through the education of its youth and grants to non-profits.  Dr. Weatherwax died of cardiac arrest while camping and hiking with friends on Vancouver Island, Canada, on May 17^th, 2008.

Scott always believed that it was the responsibility of the community to cultivate the leaders of the future.  He understood that a well-educated individual needs exposure to the arts and sports, and that leadership can start young.  He believed that hard work should be rewarded, and that is why the Grays Harbor Community Foundation established a four-year $2,500 per year scholarship in his memory: the Dr. Scott A. Weatherwax Memorial Academic Athlete of the Year Scholarship.

 Weatherwax Scholarships

On October 16, 1903, a day now known as "Black Friday," a spectacular fire leveled ten city blocks in downtown Aberdeen, destroying 140 buildings and killing three people.  As the young city began to rebuild, it was driven by what became known as the Rainbow Spirit — an infectious optimism that revealed a strength the community barely knew it had.  That optimism survived another disastrous fire, sparked just eleven days later, which leveled again some of the same businesses displaced by the first fire.  Almost 100 years later, on January 5, 2002, the Rainbow Spirit came alive again after a midnight fire gutted Aberdeen's Weatherwax High School, leaving only the skeleton of its landmark main building.  Built just six years after the 1903 fires, the high school had been named to honor Aberdeen pioneer J. M. Weatherwax.  The Grays Harbor Community Foundation first offered these Weatherwax Scholarships in 2002.  Named in honor of J. M. and other members of a family whose history is inseparable from the history of Grays Harbor, the scholarships are open to all applicants who satisfy the general eligibility requirements of the Scholarship Program.

Dr. Donald and Edna Wheaton Memorial Scholarship

The Donald and Edna Wheaton Scholarship Foundation was established in 1981 by the estate of Dr. Donald Wheaton.  The purpose has always been to provide scholarships to Grays Harbor County youth who wish to pursue college studies in the healing arts field.  There are multiple scholarships of $1,000 for one year, to study in the medical arts field.

 

---

• Home • FAQ's • Contact •

We thank Darrell Westmoreland, Kevin Hong, Ellen Pickell, and the Polson Museum for providing the photographs used in this website.  We'd like to showcase the work of more local photographers and artists on this website and in our publications.  Please contact us if you'd like to help. 

Mail:        705 J Street  |  P.O. Box 615  |  Hoquiam, WA  98550

Email:      info@gh-cf.org

Phone:     360.532.1600

Fax:         360.532.8111

Last modified: 10/17/2011