The Trustees of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc. have selected the grant winners for 2024. The Memorial Scholarship Fund was created over 50 years ago to provide tuition assistance to North Catholic students to attend Allentown College, now DeSales University. Over the years, the fund has changed to provide tuition assistance to North Catholic students, and now with our beloved school being closed, our focus shifted to providing grants for elementary, high school and college students to children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of dues paying members of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Assn. These scholarships are awarded by the Trustees using a proven process that considers a student’s financial need and academic
success. It is a competitive process, so the Trustees do their best without having knowledge of the current school or the future school of each applicant.
For this year, the Northeast Catholic Memorial Scholarships will be awarded in memory
of Leonard F. Knobbs, a class of 1953 grad and long time Trustee of the Memorial
Scholarship Fund. Len served on the Board of Governors for well over 50 years, was a
two-time President of the Alumni Association, long time Executive Secretary and
Treasurer, and also a founding member of the Memorial Scholarship Fund. Len was
instrumental in the creation of the fund.
Currently, the Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc. awards 4-
year grants to five high school seniors to attend a Catholic College/University in the 5
county Philadelphia area, along with De Sales University; 4-year awards to twenty 8th
grade students to attend a Catholic High School in the Philadelphia, Camden or Trenton
Dioceses, as well as 3-year awards for ten 5th grade students for Catholic Grade
Schools in the Philadelphia, Camden or Trenton Dioceses.
The grants awarded by the Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc.
are only made possible due to the generosity of our Alumni, as well as the families,
friends and supporters of the Northeast Catholic High School and the Alumni
Association. In addition to the financial support, the Trustees would like to acknowledge
the hard work throughout the year of our Alumni Board of Governors, who donate their
time and energy to run events throughout the year to support the Memorial Scholarship
Fund.
The full list of Scholarships awarded in 2024 can be found below, along with a list of
schools who will be receiving awards from this fund during the 2024-2025 school year.
More information on the Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc. can
be found on our website.
The Trustees of The Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship
Robert J Kensil Jr '74 - Chairman
Stephen A Cardullo '72 - Treasurer
Albert P Waskiewicz '79
Jeffrey W Brown '79
John J Hanejko '65
James W Bollendorf '73
Thomas P Morgan '64
Raymond P Zegarski '59
Rocco G Iacone '55
Patrick J Boyle '49
Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship Fund
2024 Leonard F Knobbs ’53 Memorial Grants
College grants
$32,000 Grants, paid equally over 4 years
Allison Szychulski - Little Flower to DeSales University
Molly McGovern - Camden Catholic to St. Joseph’s University
Tatum McHugh - Nazareth Academy to St. Joseph’s University
Jessica Wojnar - Holy Cross to Holy Family University
Christopher McCole - Roman Catholic to St. Joseph’s University
High School grants
$20,000 Grant, paid equally over 4 years
Emma Hand - St. Jerome to St. Hubert HS
Samantha Hand - St. Jerome to St. Hubert HS
Michael Comey - Our Lady of Port Richmond to St. Joseph Prep HS
Chase Pantalone - Franklin Towne Charter to Father Judge HS
Caroline Malloy - Blessed Trinity to St. Hubert HS
$16,000 Grant, paid equally over 4 years
Max Witalec - Our Lady of Port Richmond to St. Joseph Prep HS
Jayson Lux - James Martin Public School to Neumann-Goretti HS
Salvatore Celebre - Franklin Towne Charter Elementary to Roman Catholic HS
Michael Szychulski - St. Katherine of Siena to Father Judge HS
Joseph McCook - Our Lady of Port Richmond to Archbishop Wood HS
$12,000 Grant, paid equally over 4 years
Patrick Haney - Holy Trinity to Conwell-Egan HS
Brigid McConnell - St. Albert the Great to Archbishop Wood HS
Joshua Zaleski - St. Cecilia Grade School to Father Judge HS
Shaylee Wallace - St. Katherine of Siena to St. Hubert HS
Valerie Bray - Nativity of Our Lord Warminster to Villa Joseph Marie HS
$8,000 Grant, paid equally over 4 years
Kayne Puchon - MaST Community Charter School to Nazareth Academy
Catherine Gasiewski - Blessed Trinity to St. Hubert HS
Britney Teszner - Our Lady of Port Richmond to Little Flower HS
Kaitlyn DiNessa - St. Cecilia to Archbishop Wood HS
Joseph Rowan – Franklin Towne Charter to Father Judge HS
Grade School Grants
$9,000 Grant, paid equally over 3 years
Katelyn McGerry - St. Katherine of Siena
Isabella Janda - St. Katherine of Siena
Emily Tieri - St. George
$6,000 Grant, paid equally over 3 years
Hugh Regan - St. Christopher
Leah Donnelly - St. Christopher
Ryan Prosperi - St. Cecilia
Julianna Kirchenbauer - St. Christopher
$3,000 Grant, paid equally over 3 years
Olivia Dougherty – Nativity of Our Lord
Francis Wallace - Mother of Divine Grace
Michael Roche - St. Katherine of Siena
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