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demonstrate compassion and caring every day. We need well educated, trained, professional nurses in our senior care communities. Edgewood College helps us and others like us to fill those vital roles.” Thirty-four annual and endowed scholarships were awarded this year to 64 deserving nursing students. Dedicated alumnae Betty Jo (Dueppen) Dahlman ‘65 and Madeline (Pelletter) Laufenberg ‘57 have established their own funds as a way to continue the strong connections they made as students. And friends of the College like the Henry J. Predolin Foundation and Meg and Richard LaBrie have made their mark, inspired by the way our graduates serve our communities. In 2004, Meg and Richard established the ‘LaBrie Merit Nursing Scholarship’ to support one undergraduate Nursing major each year. Before her retirement, Meg was a nurse at Meriter Hospital in Madison for forty years, so when they first met their scholarship recipient, Celeste Wilkinson ’13, they were especially pleased that Celeste was already working toward her goal of a career in healthcare. In a letter of gratitude she wrote to the couple Celeste said, “I am currently completing my junior year of college, and my 3rd semester in Nursing. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to become a nurse and I love every minute of the program, stress and all! I am continuing to enjoy my studies and am thankful for the small class sizes and many professors that are teaching me so much. I have also taken a CNA position at Meriter Hospital and hope to stay with Meriter upon my graduation.”
To learn more about creating endowed and annual scholarship funds at Edgewood College, contact Katie (Hargraves) Vesperman ‘99 at 608-663-3224 or kvesperman@edgewood.edu.
Left: Celeste Wilkinson ’13 meets Richard and Meg LaBrie on campus, November 2012. Right Top: Today, Wilkinson serves the Madison community as a Nurse at Meriter Hospital. (Photo curtesy of Meriter Hospital) Right Bottom: Tee Up for Nursing, Summer 2013 (l. to r.) Bill Antonie, Byron Chase, LPGA legend Kathy Whitworth, Roger Patrickus, Scott Frank, MBA ‘86.
Fall.13//Edgewood College magazine
The LaBrie Merit Nursing Scholarship seeks to support high-achieving Nursing students, students who demonstrate the capacity to graduate and succeed in the world of healthcare. In supporting Celeste, that is exactly what this scholarship did. Celeste graduated in May of 2013 and found her nursing journey continuing at the very place that Meg retired from – Meriter Hospital.