Joseph and Jacquelyn DeBuiser Memorial Scholarship

Jacquelyn “Jackie” DeBuiser was a 22-year, highly regarded employee in CLU’s business office when her husband died in 1990. Joseph DeBuiser had an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry. Memorial gifts from his colleagues and Jackie’s coworkers provided the impetus for Jackie to create one of CLU’s first scholarships in pre-engineering in Joe’s honor. Her personal gifts helped the fund to reach the endowment level quickly.

The new scholarship was initially named the Joseph G. DeBuiser Memorial Scholarship and specified that both math and physics majors were eligible for funding. The intent was to encourage students who were interested in becoming engineers. Additional scholarships in this area would follow, but this was the earliest.

Just 10 years later Jackie lost her personal battle with cancer. Once again the community responded generously in their remembrance of her impact on their lives. Jackie’s children, a son and two daughters, soon expressed their desire to have her name added to the official title of the scholarship. Thus it became the Joseph and Jacquelyn DeBuiser Memorial Scholarship from that point on.

While the criteria for the Joseph and Jacquelyn DeBuiser Memorial Scholarship remain the same (math/physics), there is one additional request: Preference is to be given to a re-entry student trying to complete a degree.