One local family is investing in education for adults who want to go back to school and earn a college degree. The family of Jack and Peggy Lynch have created an endowed scholarship for non-traditional students at Ancilla College.
This fall the new scholarship will be available for students 22-years-old or older who enroll in at least six credit hours (two classes) at Ancilla. The Jack and Peggy Lynch Family Scholarship fund was created with a donation to the college earmarked for non-traditional students.
“We really want to support education and this is one way we can honor our parents,” said Kathy Clees, one of the Lynch’s daughters.
“Our parents helped launch economic development efforts in Starke County,” another daughter, Murna Lindsey said.
“Mom and dad moved to this area years ago and were very involved in the community. They were always involved in supporting the local community and talked about attracting and keeping talented people here,” Clees said.
Jack and Peggy met at the Starke County Airport in 1945 when it was located where the Knox Mall is today. “Peggy (Logan) worked in Winamac and lived on a farm near Bruce Lake. Jack was taking flying lessons from Peggy’s sister-in-law. Peggy’s brother Ron Logan and his wife Helen introduced them and a short while later they were married,” Lindsey said.
: Jack and Peggy were married in 1946 and relocated a couple times while Jack was in the US Navy, finally settling in Elkhart. Jack & Peggy had their own business until they sold out in 1973 and retired to Bass Lake. They have 3 children Kathy, Don and Murna.
Dad worked for 25 years as a volunteer for the S.C.D.E.F. to bring business and industry to the county. He had family in Knox and Bass Lake. His brother Bob Lynch (former Mayor of Knox) and wife Dorothy would come to raise their family in Knox also, the sisters said.
“We want to support Ancilla’s efforts to reach adults, veterans and others who fall into the ‘non-traditional’ category of student. You don’t have to be a teenager to go to college. We know that Ancilla works with adults, military veterans and people who started a college degree but had to stop. We want to support people who want to come back to school. We hope people take advantage of having the college right here in the community,” Clees said.
The donation will create an endowed scholarship that will take the form of an annual award of up to $2,500 to adults who want to begin a college education or return to complete a degree started somewhere else, Clees said.
Ancilla College (www.ancilla.edu) is a Catholic, liberal arts, Associate’s Degree college in Donaldson, just outside of Plymouth. Founded in 1937 by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ Ancilla offers 18 different degree programs and courses that transfer to every university in the Midwest.
