THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240224
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESTER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 191 lines
IT'S SOMETHING SO GOOD that came out of something so bad.
That's how Bill and Vonnie Schlimgen explain it.
After their 20-year-old son died in a January 1983 plane crash off the North Carolina coast, they set up a memorial scholarship so that he would not be forgotten. Each year since Richard J. Schlimgen's death, a scholarship that bears his name has honored one local senior citywide for his or her achievements.
It is one of 13 student scholarships awarded through the city's public high schools that have been established by Virginia Beach parents who have lost a son or daughter. Although each represents a unique situation, all serve to keep a memory alive while helping another child continue his or her education.
``We wanted something that would go on living,'' Vonnie Schlimgen said. ``We were just looking for a way to make something positive out of something very tragic and negative.''
Theirs is the only citywide scholarship of its kind. Others apply to a specific school.
Richard Schlimgen was a 1980 graduate of First Colonial High. Although he held a variety of leadership positions - from captain of the soccer team to president of his junior class - Richard's first love was student government.
``He was into everything he did but he had a very soft spot in his heart for SCA,'' Vonnie Schlimgen said.
Richard was president of First Colonial's Student Cooperative Association and chairman of the City-Wide SCA during his senior year. He participated in the Virginia Beach Senior High Leadership Workshop for three years and returned as a counselor three more summers after high school graduation.
His dedication didn't stop there. One day during his sophomore year at the University of Virginia, Richard drove the 3 1/2 hours home from Charlottesville just to make a presentation at the City-Wide SCA meeting.
``He really was a leader,'' Bill Schlimgen said. ``That was his style.''
The Schlimgens, who also have a daughter, kept that in mind when they established rules for the scholarship. To be eligible, an applicant must have attended the Leadership Workshop at least one year.
The scholarship was started by memorial donations made in lieu of flowers and other gifts after Richard's death. It began offering recipients $500 but now pays $1,000 annually.
``It's very gratifying to us to have done it,'' Vonnie Schlimgen said.
Each May, the presentation is marked by mixed emotions.
``You still have that feeling of pride you had in your own child,'' Bill Schlimgen said. ``You know that's the kind of person he was.''
Those emotions are shared each year by Al and Jean Gaylor when they attend the annual awards assembly at Cox High School. They established the Carol Jean Gaylor Memorial Scholarship in 1992 in memory of their youngest daughter.
``It's bittersweet,'' Jean Gaylor said of the assembly. ``It's sad to be there, but it's nice to bring happiness to someone else.''
The $500 scholarship (increased this year from $400) recognizes a Cox honor graduate who plans to attend Virginia Tech. Selection is based on academic merit, character, financial need, and school and community involvement.
Carol graduated from Cox with honors in 1987 and was involved in National Honor Society, French Club, SCA, Key Club and the Fine Arts Club.
Her Falcon pride was no secret to anyone. Her parents' proof is a set of four pictures, where Carol, dressed in pastels, stands alongside her personal ``homecoming float.'' Before heading to the game, she covered her blue Volkswagen Bug in green and gold streamers and posters reading ``GO COX.''
She went on to Virginia Tech, where she majored in marketing management and was involved in the Pi Beta Phi sorority all four years. She graduated in 1991, moved home and was recruited into a retail management training program at a local department store.
In November 1991, Carol died under circumstances that her parents find too painful to discuss. She was 22.
Like their daughter, who Jean Gaylor often called ``Sunshine,'' the couple tries to look on the bright side. They said their faith is what has kept them going.
``A minister said she was a perfect flower in an imperfect world,'' said Jean Gaylor, looking up at the portrait of Carol that sits neatly atop her Kincaid piano. It hasn't been played since Carol died. ``She had a purpose on earth and she accomplished it,'' Jean Gaylor added.
Besides the scholarship, the Gaylors have dedicated in Carol's memory a green ash tree in front of Trantwood Elementary School, a piece of Kids Cove and a stained glass window in Foundry United Methodist Church.
``We want our daughter's memory to go on year-round,'' Al Gaylor said. ``Her memory is constant with us.''
Tom and Rita Horvatic have turned their own tragedy into something positive.
After their youngest child and only son died in a September 1986 car crash, they set up the Tommy Horvatic Memorial Scholarship at Princess Anne High School. He was beginning his senior year there when he died.
They love talking about Tommy's younger days, recalling those places where he made memories. ``That's where he used to break dance with his friends,'' Rita said, pointing to the floor of the hallway.
His memory is everywhere. Pictures of Tommy and his three sisters line the walls and trim the shelves in the Horvatics' home.
Tom Horvatic proudly wears his son's class ring on his pinky, while Rita Horvatic pins picture buttons of Tommy everywhere.
``He goes everywhere his mother goes,'' Rita Horvatic said, showing pins on her purse and jacket.
The Horvatics said they had ``average students'' in mind when they established the scholarship, which offers $1,000 the first year and $500 the following three.
The requirements are basic. The Princess Anne senior must be passing all subjects and be intent on furthering his or her education, whether it's at a four-year university or vocational school, and should be active in extracurricular activities, church and community.
``We wanted to open it to every kid that walked through the door,'' Rita Horvatic said.
``Tommy was an average student,'' she added. ``There are lots of Tommys out there that could use some financial aid.''
While most scholarship recipients are selected by a school committee, the Horvatics chose to have some input after the first two were awarded.
Once the selection is narrowed to four or five candidates, ``we kind of look for qualities that resemble Tommy's,'' Rita Horvatic said.
They also have remained involved in raising money for a CD to fund the scholarship. The Horvatics brainstormed several ideas and decided on aluminum recycling.
It has paid off.
From June 1987 to July 1994, the couple turned in 69,138 pounds - nearly 35 tons - of aluminum, generating $18,343 for the fund. Mounds of cans, donated by individuals, groups and businesses overtook their yard.
Rita Horvatic spent hours a day in the back yard on her ``hobby'' - can crushing.
``It was a labor of love,'' she said. ``But to collect all of those smelly cans to keep his memory alive . . . it's surprising what you'll do for your kids.''
They stopped collecting in July but cannot resist picking up a can or two during their morning walks around the Pembroke area. ``When we walk, we walk with our heads down,'' Tom Horvatic said, laughing.
The Horvatics' ultimate goal is to give $1,000 a year for four years to each recipient, but they will need $100,000 in the CD to accomplish this. ``I can't depart this earth until we do that,'' Rita Horvatic said.
The couple can recite from memory the names of all eight recipients, and they keep in touch with all but one of them.
Tricia Clayton, who received the award in 1990, sent the Horvatics her graduation announcement from the University of Virginia, with a note that said, ``You're partially responsible for this.''
Rita Horvatic said she values the relationship the couple shares with the recipients. ``Tommy brought those people into our lives,'' she said. ``His mark is still being made.'' MEMO: MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS
Citywide:
Richard J. Schlimgen Memorial - $1,000
Cox High:
Stuart Tracy Drye Memorial - $350-plus for one female and $350-plus
for one male
Carol Jean Gaylor Memorial - $500 for one year
First Colonial High:
Carson W. Cross III Memorial - $200
Green Run High:
Alton Grizzard Scholarship - $500
Doug West Scholarship - $500
Kellam High:
Flora Johnson Memorial - $150
Terry Taylor Memorial - $200
James Webster Memorial - $750
Princess Anne High:
Matthew Holden Memorial - $600
Tommy Horvatic Memorial - $2,500 (spread out over four years)
Anthony Robusto Memorial - $1,000
Salem High:
Carl O. Fradillada Memorial - $500
Note: Students should check with their school's guidance office for more
information about applying.
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
THROUGH THEIR LOSSES THEY KEEP ON GIVING
[Color Photo]
Bill and Vonnie Schlimgen's
Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
ABOVE: ``It's bittersweet,'' Jean Gaylor says of the annual awards
ceremony at Cox High School when the scholarship in memory of
daughter, Carol, above, is presented. ``It's sad to be there, but
it's nice to bring happiness to someone else.''
LEFT: Another picture of Carol adorns the home's piano, which hasn't
been played since her death in 1991.
The memory of Tommy Horvatic is everywhere in the lives of Tom and
Rita Horvatic, left. Pictures of Tommy and his three sisters line
the walls and trim the shelves in the Horvatics' home. Tom Horvatic
proudly wears his son's class ring on his pinky, while Rita Horvatic
pins picture buttons of Tommy everywhere. Tommy, above, died in a
September 1986 car crash while he was a senior at Princess Anne High
School.
by CNB