Scholarship recipients Maddie Webber (left) and Gracie Sutton (right) holding the P.E.O. Scholarship plaque.
Submitted photo
Chapter F of the P.E.O. Sisterhood met on July 13 at the home of chapter president Mary Kay Vance. The members welcomed Gracie Sutton, a 2023 Wilmington High School graduate, who was awarded the Jean Heiland, Louise Linton, Marjorie L. Diebel Scholarship.
Sutton will be attending Ohio State University in the fall majoring in environmental policy and decision making. Her long-term goal is to continue her education by attending law school, focusing on environmental law.
The Jean Heiland, Louise Linton, Marjorie Diebel Scholarship is an annual award to a top female graduate from Wilmington High School. In 1935, Jean Linton (who was later married to Hugh Heiland) was the very first recipient of this award. After her passing in 2010, Chapter F, along with Heiland’s family, collaborated to rename this scholarship in memory of Jean, her mother Louise Linton, and her sister Marjorie Diebel. All three women were faithful and active members of the P.E.O. sisterhood. Wilmington’s Chapter F and the Heiland family fund this annual scholarship and are delighted to be able to help this impressive and outstanding young lady.
Maddie Webber, a previous Heiland Scholarship recipient, also attended the meeting and is the 2023 recipient of a P.E.O. Ohio Scholarships program grant. Webber, a Red Hawk Scholar, will be entering her junior year at Miami University where she has consistently been on the university’s President’s List and is the top 3% of all students.
The Ohio Scholarships program is a competitive grant program and is funded by Ohio P.E.O. Chapters and awards grants to undergraduate and master’s degree women from all over the state of Ohio. Chapter F is happy to have sponsored this incredibly talented and worthy young woman.
Chapter F welcomed guests Cindy Sutton and Kim Webber, mothers of the two scholarship recipients. Members spent time getting to know these mothers and daughters as they shared their plans and goals. The relationship with the scholarship recipients reinforces the dedication of Chapter F in its fundraising efforts to continue to enhance scholarships and the philanthropic goals of the P.E.O. sisterhood.
P.E.O. is a philanthropic organization whose mission celebrates advancement of women and supports women’s education through scholarships, grants, awards, and loans. Chapter F of the P.E.O. Sisterhood was organized in Wilmington in 1925 and continues to be an active part of the Wilmington community.
