A new scholarship has been created through the Scioto Foundation.
The Scioto Foundation announced the creation of the Besco Family Scholarship Fund.
The Besco Family Scholarship was established by Doug Besco in memory of his mother, Mary Nagel Besco, and his sister, Anna Marie Besco.
To be eligible for the Besco Family Scholarship, students must be graduating seniors from South Webster High School, reside in Bloom or Vernon Townships and plan to attend Ohio University or an OU branch campus, Rio Grande University or Shawnee State University.
Eligible applicants must have a 2.5 GPA or above. Top consideration will be given to education majors; however students majoring in social work or sociology with an emphasis in social work may apply.
Selections for the Besco Scholarship will be made by the Scioto Foundation volunteer scholarship committee.
With his creation of the new scholarship fund, Besco honors two strong, resourceful women who recognized the significance of education and family ties to the South Webster area. His mother, sister and Besco himself graduated from South Webster High School.
Mary Nagel Besco’s mother died when she was only two years old. While her siblings were sent to the Children’s Home, Mary went to live with an aunt and uncle in New Boston where her uncle worked at the steel mill. When the 1937 flood threatened that area, the family moved to Vernon Township. Both the aunt and uncle passed away during Mary’s senior year in high school there and left her their property. She graduated from high school in June of 1940
and married Thomas Besco. Anna Marie was born in March of 1941, and Thomas was drafted into the United States army and stationed in Japan.
Mary never drove a car but was very self-reliant on her own with a small child.
“She was the type of person who mentored other people and gave good advice,” said Doug Besco. “Later she taught at Happy Hearts School.”
Anna Marie graduated from high school in 1959 and immediately began to work toward a cadet teaching certificate at Rio Grande in order to achieve a teaching position as soon as possible. She taught one year at Vernon Elementary, then several years in Marysville, Ohio, and later in Florida. She also taught at military bases in Goose Bay, Labrador and Rhine-Main, Germany before moving to California and Arizona where she worked in real estate.
Doug Besco graduated from South Webster 50 years ago. He planned to teach but won a Detroit Steel Scholarship for the fields of labor relations and business and earned a degree in those fields. He graduated from Ohio University in 1970, then took a Civil Service exam and was hired as a social worker in the Scioto County Jobs and Family Services Program where he worked for 32 years. He also taught business courses at Portsmouth Interstate Business College. He is now the proprietor of the Remember When antique shop on Second Street in Portsmouth.a
After Doug’s sister passed away in Tucson, Arizona, her real-estate office building was sold and the proceeds from the building went to Doug. After investing it, Besco decided he wanted to do something to remember his mother and sister with the establishment of the Besco Family Scholarship fund.
“I know how much a scholarship meant to me, not having student loans and helping with other expenses,” Besco said. “This scholarship will help, especially if a student attends Shawnee State. Education was very important to me and to my sister.”
Contributions to the Besco Family Scholarship Fund from family, friends or the general public may be made at any time. Donations may be in the form of gifts of cash, securities or property.
Additional information about the Besco Fund or other planned giving opportunities at the Scioto Foundation may be obtained by contacting Patty Tennant, Program Office – Donor Services, or SF Executive Director Kim Cutlip at (740) 354-4612.
