Lawrence gets $1.125 million gift for scholarships

By Erica Perez
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A gift from the trust of two late Appleton philanthropists will endow a new scholarship fund at Lawrence University for students from low-income families beginning in fall 2009, officials announced today.

The $1.125 million gift from the trust of Amond “Ralph” and Marjorie Ballinger establishes an endowment for the Raymond C. Krueger Industrialist Scholarship. The university will pay out awards using the interest on the fund.

Lawrence officials expect to award some $56,000 in Raymond C. Krueger Industrialist Scholarships to multiple students in the 2009–10 academic year, spokesman Rick Peterson said.

The cost to attend Lawrence is $40,221, including $33,264 in tuition and fees. Some 90 percent of students receive financial aid, and about 70 percent get need-based financial aid. The average financial aid package is $25,500.

The Ballingers spent most of their lives in Appleton and supported a number of Fox Valley organizations, including the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Goodwill of North Central Wisconsin and the Appleton Medical Center Foundation. They also were long-time members of First United Methodist Church, where they first met at a singles gathering in 1948.

Marjorie Ballinger was a 1928 graduate of Appleton High School and earned a degree from Bowlby’s Business College. She worked for 30 years with Fox River Tractor Co. before retiring in 1970. She died last August at the age of 87.

Amond Ballinger, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Stout, spent 28 years with the United States Department of Defense, retiring as a quality assurance specialist. He served as a supply officer for the Outagamie Chapter of the American Red Cross for more than 12 years. He passed away at the age of 84 in March.

The scholarship honors Marjorie Ballinger’s father, a 1914 graduate of Lawrence.