More than 75 years after a Rotary Scholarship was presented to her husband, Margaret Shirk wanted to show her appreciation to the El Dorado Rotary Club.
Shirk attended the club’s weekly meeting Wednesday to make a presentation to them.
“My husband was a graduate of El Dorado High School in 1935,” she said. “My husband did not have any money.”
Her husband, David, wanted to attend the University of Kansas to play football.
In September of 1935, the El Dorado Rotary Club presented him with a check for $60.
“This was a Godsend to him,” she said.
He had to pay back the money after he graduated, which he did.
“Sixty dollars then would probably be $1,000 now,” she said.
To show her appreciation, Shirk wanted to sponsor a scholarship for the local Rotary Club.
“I know that David would be pleased,” she said.
She recalled that David had three jobs while they were going together when he was in school.
She showed the club members a photo of her husband and presented the certificate promising to pay back the money five years after it was issued to the club.
“That is amazing,” said Mary Luebbert, Rotary president. “A wonderful gift and we appreciate that.”
