Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship
The History of the Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Fund was founded on April 30, 1968, by then Alumni Association President Leonard F. Knobbs, '53, to award tuition assistance grants to graduating seniors from NECHS to attend Allentown College of St. Francis deSales (now deSales University). The Fund was granted Articles of Incorporation by Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Griffiths on January 22, 1969. On February 13, the IRS granted the Fund tax exempt status as a charitable organization. The Fund is administered by a Board of Trustees consisting of all past presidents of Northeast Catholic Alumni Association, Inc. In 1973, the Board of Trustees expanded the number of colleges to also include LaSalle, St. Joseph's, Villanova, and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. A major change was enacted in 1977 when the Trustees established grants to be awarded to the son/daughter of a dues paying alumnus to attend one of the approved colleges and a grant was established to partially underwrite the tuition of a Freshmen entering Northeast Catholic High School. Over the years, the number of tuition assistance grants and their annual value was increased until in 1992 the Fund was awarding $106,000 annually to four college students and twenty-one Northeast Catholic students. Faced with the threatened closure of Northeast Catholic, the Board of Trustees responded by suspending future college grants and increasing the number of tuition assistance grants awarded to incoming Freshmen at NECHS to 57 with an annual value of $165,000. By 2008, the Trustees had increased the value of the grants being awarded to $250,000 annually to incoming Freshmen at NECHS. With the closure of Northeast Catholic High School in 2010, the Board of Trustees made the following changes. Grants would be awarded to the children and grandchildren of dues paying members of the Alumni Association. In 2010, the grants were valued at $250,500 annually. In 2013, the grants were increased to $261,000 annually; and in 2016 to $300,000 annually. Commencing with the grants awarded in 2018, $500,000 in grants were awarded as follows: Four grants of $32,000 each to attend specific universities/colleges; Five grants of $20,000 each, five grants of $16,000 each, five grants of $12,000 each, and five grants of $8,000 each to attend specific high schools; and three grants of $9,000 each, four grants of $6,000 each, and three grants of $3,000 each to attend specific parochial grade schools. For complete details on the schools and eligibility requirements go to the News page. The Scholarship Fund evolved again in 2022. Scholarships will be offered to children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren of current dues paying members of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Association. Furthermore, as of 2023, these grants will include ALL Catholic schools, such as Private Catholic Elementary, High Schools and Universities. Also added are Regional Catholic Schools and Independent Catholic Mission Schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the Diocese of Camden and Trenton. The college and high school grants are payable over four years in equal semi-annual installments and the grade school grants over three years in equal semi-annual installments directly to the institution on the students' behalf. Since its inception, the Fund has expended in excess of $6.3 million in helping young men and women further their Catholic education. The bulk of this, over $3.16 million went to underwrite tuition for students at Northeast Catholic High School. Among the other Catholic educational institutions that have been major recipients are: LaSalle, Holy Family, DeSales, and St. Joseph Universities; Roman Catholic, Father Judge, Little Flower, and Archbishop Ryan High Schools; and Our Lady of Port Richmond, St. Cecilia, St. Christopher, and St. Jerome parochial grade schools. Students at eleven colleges, twenty-one high schools, and forty-one parochial grade schools in the Philadelphia, Camden, and Trenton Dioceses have received tuition assistance. Tax deductible donations may be sent to the Fund at P. 0. Box 7005, Philadelphia, PA 19149-0005.
Request a Grant Application
The Scholarship Application request period has ended for the 2023-24 school year. Please check back toward the end of 2023 for the application request form for the 2024-25 school year. Remember, the person requesting a scholarship application must be a living dues paying member of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Association, and the student must be in 6th grade for the Grade School scholarship, 8th grade for the High School scholarship and 12th grade for the College scholarship when the application is submitted.
Memorial Scholarship Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Memorial Scholarship is comprised of current and former Presidents of the Northeast Catholic Alumni Association. The current members include the following:
Chairman:
Treasurer:
Trustees:
Robert J Kensil Jr '74
Stephen A Cardullo '72
James W Bollendorf '73
Patrick J Boyle '49
Jeffrey W Brown '79
John J Hanejko '65
Rocco G Iacone '55
Thomas P Morgan '64
John T Musial '63
Albert P Waskiewicz '79
Raymond P Zegarski '59
Grant Winners
College Grants
2022
Nathan Crompton
$32,000
From Archbishop Ryan HS to Holy Family University
2022
Gabrielle Dugan
$32,000
From Little Flower HS to LaSalle University
2022
Michael McGerry
$32,000
From Father Judge HS to Holy Family University
2022
Connor McKnight
$32,000
From Holy Cross HS to Holy Family University
2022
Patrick McLaughlin
$32,000
From Archbishop Ryan HS to Holy Family University
2021
Hannah Dolan
$32,000
From St Basil Academy to Holy Family University
2021
Chloe Dolan
$32,000
From St Basil Academy to Holy Family University
2021
Samson Gerner
$32,000
From Holy Spirit HS to Rosemont College
2021
Kathryn McCole
$32,000
From Hallahan HS to St Joseph's University
2021
Brianna Wojnar
$32,000
From Holy Cross HS to Holy Family University
High School Grants
2022
Christopher DiPasquale
$20,000
From St Matthew to Father Judge HS
2022
Thomas McGerry
$20,000
From St Katherine of Seina to Father Judge HS
2022
Cara Mott
$20,000
From St Christopher to Little Flower HS
2022
Isabella O'Connor
$20,000
From St Matthew to Archbishop Ryan HS
2022
Aislin Slook
$20,000
From St Katherine of Seina to Little Flower HS
2022
Sean Cahill
$16,000
From Our Lady of Calvary to Archbishop Ryan HS
2022
Jessica Helder
$16,000
From St Margaret Regional School to Paul VI HS
2022
Brendan Kelly
$16,000
From St Dominic to Father Judge HS
2022
Jessica Long
$16,000
From St George to Archbishop Ryan HS
2022
Sophia Markley
$16,000
From Franklin Towne Charter School to St Hubert HS
2022
Alyssa DiNezza
$12,000
From St Cecilia to Archbishop Wood HS
2022
Jeffery Kolakowski
$12,000
From St Jerome to Father Judge HS
2022
Matthew Sears
$12,000
From St Matthew to Roman Catholic HS
2022
Grace Smith
$12,000
From St George to St Hubert HS
2022
Luke Thomas
$12,000
From MAST Community Charter School to Father Judge HS
2022
Michael Rossi
$8,000
From St Cecila to Father Judge HS
2022
Austin Synder
$8,000
From First Philadelphia Charter to Father Judge HS
2021
Alexa Harr
$20,000
From St Laurentius to Little Flower HS
2021
Hayden Johnston
$20,000
From St Laurentius to Little Flower HS
2021
Aiden Kain
$20,000
From St Katherine of Siena to Father Judge HS
2021
Kevin Szychulski
$20,000
From Maternity BVM to Father Judge HS
2021
Kelly Walsh
$20,000
From St Christopher to Archbishop Ryan HS
2021
Katie Crompton
$16,000
From St Martha to Archbishop Ryan HS
2021
Michael Dunbar III
$16,000
From Stephen Decatur to Father Judge HS
2021
Tierney McGovern
$16,000
From St Christopher to Archbishop Ryan HS
2021
Francis Schick
$16,000
From St Katherine of Siena to Father Judge HS
2021
Christopher Somers
$16,000
From Blessed Trinity to Father Judge HS
2021
Leo Hoffmann
$12,000
From Franklin Towne to Father Judge HS
2021
Kaiden Laverty
$12,000
From Our Lady of Calvary to Father Judge HS
2021
Connor McLaughlin
$12,000
From St Martha to Archbishop Ryan HS
2021
Kathleen Sortino
$12,000
From Our Lady of Port Richmond to St Hubert's HS
2021
Cecelia Zaleski
$12,000
From St Matthew to St Hubert's HS
Grade School Grants
2022
Jack Szychulski
$9,000
Maternity BVM
2022
Brendan Smith
$9,000
Our Lady of Calvary
2022
Joseph McGerry
$9,000
St Katherine of Seina
2022
Kevin Wojnar
$6,000
St Charles Borromeo
2022
Brendan Vena
$6,000
St Jerome
2022
Avery Harr
$6,000
St Laurentius
2022
Koko Hane
$6,000
St Thomas the Apostle
2022
Cole Roberts
$3,000
Holy Innocents
2022
Scarlett Mendys
$3,000
St George
2022
Richard Dempsey
$3,000
Our Lady of Calvary
2021
Michael Szychulski
$9,000
Our Lady of Calvary
2021
Cole Kelly
$9,000
St Jerome
2021
Emma Hand
$9,000
St Jerome
2021
Sydney Schick
$6,000
St Katherine of Siena
2021
Evan Pyfer
$6,000
St Katherine Drexel
2021
Samantha Hand
$6,000
St Jerome
2021
Savannah Delaney
$6,000
Our Lady of Good Counsel
2021
Madelyne Holmes
$3,000
St Ephrem School