New education endowment started

As a college student, one young man spent about as much time working as he did attending classes. His experience drove his decision to create a scholarship endowment at the Catholic Foundation of Oklahoma.

“My dad had a family of four,” said Rick, who asked that his last name not be used. “He wasn’t able to support any of his children through college. My upbringing required me to pay for my schooling. 

“I worked and paid. It was tough.”

He also said that coming out of high school, he wasn’t aware of potential scholarship opportunities. Later, as a single father, he saw that “for single parents, it becomes a more difficult challenge to put kids through school.”

He hopes the new Catholic Scholars Endowment at the Catholic Foundation, started by he and his wife, will help young people and families who might find themselves in similar situations.

Endowments provide annual distributions, in perpetuity. As endowments grow, so do the amounts that are distributed annually. 

In time, the Catholic Scholars Endowment will provide grants to students who are practicing Catholics from anywhere in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Recipients will be full-time students who maintain a requisite grade point average. The scholarships will not be restricted to a particular field of study and recipients may attend school in Oklahoma or out of state.

Rick said his experience was akin to that of his mother and father, who both had to work their way through school.

“I think he (my father) wanted us kids to do more than he was able to do. He indicated that a lot to me, anyway,” Rick said.

That sentiment influenced his and his four siblings’ decision to give part of their father’s inheritance to the existing Saint Therese of the Infant Jesus Endowment at the Catholic Foundation. The endowment helps catechists in their work teaching the Catholic faith to children and adults.

Rick said the work done by catechists is vital to the growth of the Church.

“We didn’t go to a Catholic school. We were weekend warriors at church each weekend,” he said. “The hope is to make the faith stronger for those who don’t have the funds or availability to pay to get a Catholic education.”

For information about these two endowments or about creating an endowment, visit cfook.org/endowments or call Mary Smith, associate director of planned giving, at (405) 709-2706.