ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996 TAG: 9607100073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
THE MEADOR SISTERS spent years teaching children in the coalfields. Their scholarship bequests will help educate even more.
Two Norton sisters - former schoolteachers who died this past winter - have each left gifts of more than $1million to be used for scholarships in the Virginia coalfields.
Irene Meador, a Norton native, taught first grade in the Norton school system for many years, beginning in the late 1930s. Her gift marks the largest single private donation ever made to Clinch Valley College in Wise, a four-year branch of the University of Virginia.
Meador specified that the money be used solely for scholarships and student loans. She asked that the college give preference to students from Wise County and Norton when deciding who should benefit from the funds.
Gladys Meador, Irene's sister, instructed that her $1million-plus gift be used for scholarships for Wise County and Norton students at any college of their choice. Gladys Meador also taught at Norton's elementary school.
NationsBank assisted the Meadors in their estate planning. The Meadors wanted poor children to have a chance to attend college, said David Peery, a NationsBank vice president in Roanoke.
The Meador sisters, neither of whom ever married, inherited much of their wealth in the form of stock in a local bank, which eventually became part of NationsBank, Peery said. They continued to make investments throughout their lives, he said.
LENGTH: Short : 35 linesby CNB