Family Utilizes Estate to Establish Scholarship in Memory of Their Parents
Kenneth A. Wilkes and Othelia Anna Wilkes of Niagara Falls, New York, married during Kenneth's sophomore year at Murray State University, where he was a first-generation college student and a fraternity brother in Pi Kappa Alpha. As a young married couple living far from their home and families, Kenneth and Anna were on their own financially—money was tight. Anna worked the counter at a local drugstore and Kenneth took jobs on campus wherever he could. One of Kenneth's jobs was running the concessions stand at Murray State baseball games. He would take home the leftover hot dogs and popcorn—often feeding them for three days after the game. During Kenneth's senior year at Murray State, they had a baby girl, Luanne M. Humphreys (Murray State graduate in journalism, 1984). Later in the spring of 1964, Kenneth graduated with a double major in history and mathematics.
After graduating from Murray State, Kenneth took a job in the Pacific Northwest with IBM where he held various positions and earned promotions over a service of 19 years. He then took a position as partner with a Big 8 consulting firm, Coopers and Lybrand. His final position of his career before retirement was as a senior principal at Kurt Salmon Associates. Kenneth passed away June 13, 2019.
Kenneth was a proud Murray State Racer. He followed Racer athletics over his lifetime and shared his enthusiasm with his family on their success. Kenneth established a scholarship at Murray State in January of 1986—the Olympic Sports Academic Scholarship, supporting full-time students who are active on sports teams (not including basketball and football) and have financial need. That scholarship is still active today.
He was an advocate for higher education all of his life, from putting himself through school to ensuring both of his daughters and his grandchildren became college graduates and establishing student scholarships for others, as well.
Upon his death, the family of Kenneth utilized their estate to establish the Kenneth A. Wilkes Non-Traditional Student Scholarship to assist non-traditional students at Murray State University in obtaining an education. Kenneth's family hopes that they can help young families, like their parents, to better themselves through a college education. The scholarship is need-based for full-time non-traditional students with preference to students who are parents or who have a child they support.
If you would like to support future Murray State students with a scholarship, please contact Dr. David Durr, CFA, CFP® at 270-809-6912 or ddurr@murraystate.edu to get started.
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