Vernon B. Litchfield Family Scholarship

“Old McDonough (County) Produced a Bumper Crop of Teachers” was the title of a newspaper article many years ago about the Litchfield family from Sciota, Illinois. Otto and Anna Litchfield had 5 sons and a daughter who were educators and/or married to educators. The Sciota Litchfields include: Theo – Principal married to a teacher, Greta, from Good Hope, Vernon – Superintendent in Creve Coeur, Harlan -Superintendent in the Peoria area, William -married to a teacher, Marge, Ken – Principal in a hearing-impaired school in White Plains, NY, and Carol – teacher married to George, a representative of the World Education Association in Ohio. Most of the Litchfields attended Western Illinois University. This scholarship is to honor Vernon B. Litchfield who graduated from WIU in 1935 and started teaching in a 2-room school in Adair. Vernon B. was a supervisor for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) during the Depression where he met his future wife, Edna Mae Lawson, from Colchester, Illinois. Edna was a primary teacher for the WPA. Vernon served as a 1st Lieutenant in the last horse cavalry and then the first mechanized unit in the U.S. Army during WWII. He went on to become a Principal and then Superintendent in Creve Coeur, Illinois. Vernon B. and Edna Mae married in 1943 and had 5 children (Kent B., Lou, Rebekah A., Tod, and Cynthia J.). Rebekah (Bekah) followed the family into education as a teacher and retired as an elementary principal. Bekah graduated from WIU in 1969 and returned for a Master’s in 1983. Vernon and Edna’s second son, Lou, an attorney, taught GED classes at a prison in Massachusetts. Cynthia, the youngest child of Vernon and Edna, received a degree in Psychology, but eventually took classes to teach Special Education Math in a high school in Georgia. The Vernon B. Litchfield Family Scholarship is meant to help students who have “teaching in their blood” – a life-calling, love for children, and desire to help all students reach their highest potential.

CRITERIA:
• Junior status (minimum of 60 credit hours)
• Current student or transfer student
• Elementary Education major
• Minimum 3.0 GPA
• Maximum one-page essay explaining why they want a career in Elementary Education
• Proof of involvement in university or community activities including student organizations
• Preference to a student who is accepted into the Great River Teacher Corps