Plymouth High School graduates have another opportunity for financial help in order to attend Ancilla College by the generous scholarship created in memory of Jim and Mary Neu.
Jim and Mary’s daughters, Mary Neu-Stoppelman and Nancy (Neu) Swanson, originated an endowed scholarship to honor their parents and to create educational opportunities for local students.
Students with a high school GPA of 2.75 or higher are eligible for the scholarship and must maintain at least a 2.5 GPA during their freshman year at Ancilla to retain the scholarship another year. In addition, students need a letter of recommendation from a high school teacher as well as an essay answering one of the following questions: “What obtaining a college education means to me and my family” or “How I plan to use my college education to help my family and my community.”
Mary Neu-Stoppelman explained, “Our parents understood that education could help pave the way to great opportunities. They knew finances could be an obstacle to education. We were fortunate that our parents encouraged us to get a good education and provided us with the opportunity to go to college. In their honor, we would like to help Ancilla students by providing them with educational opportunities.”
Jim hailed from Bourbon and graduated from University of Illinois in 1939 and received his J.D. from Notre Dame in 1942. He was a World War II veteran and married Mary Kathryn Ryder on January 16, 1954 in Bremen. Mary was born in Bremen and graduated from Bremen High School in 1941. After high school, she worked at Associates in South Bend and at Bremen Bank in Bremen.
The couple moved to Plymouth and considered Plymouth home for over 4o years. During their time at Plymouth, Jim worked as an attorney at Wyland, Humphrey, and Clevenger. They were both active in the community. Jim was a member of the Plymouth American Legion, Bremen Veteran of Foreign Wars, past president of Plymouth Community School Board, and a founder of Plymouth Industrial Development Corporation (PIDCO). Mary was a volunteer with Lutheran Braille Workers group at Calvary Lutheran Church and also served on the Altar Guild with Calvary for many years.
Jim and Mary Neu were very connected to the Ancilla community as well. Jim served on Ancilla’s Board of Trustees from 1976-1982 and was Chairman of the Board from 1980-1982.
Nancy (Neu) Swanson added, “Our parents donated their time and talents to various community services. We wanted to give back to the community by creating an education scholarship in their memory.”
