Elyria Catholic Alumni are “Leaving their Print” in Scholarships for Elyria Catholic Students

A new flurry of donations from alumni are helping Elyria Catholic students overcome the financial barriers associated with private education. “It is heartwarming to meet with these alumni,” says Michelle Hoffman, Director of Advancement. “They have some very vibrant memories of their time at Elyria Catholic. They realize and are grateful for the impact the school and community had on their lives. They feel called to give back and make sure current high school students can enjoy the same opportunities they had.” 

Jim Cyran ’66 established a fund to provide need based tuition assistance for incoming freshmen to use over their four years. Jim Ross ’52 has established the Jim Ross ’52 Scholarship for academically strong Elyria Catholic freshmen in need of assistance for their three remaining years at EC. Elyria Catholic High School Classes of 1969 and 1974 celebrated their respective 50th and 45th class reunions in August and collectively donated to create a scholarship in their class name. The Kelly Foundation, founded in memory of Kelly Kramer ’07, has hosted two “Cornhole and Que” fundraisers at EC and donated the majority of the proceeds to EC for both tuition assistance and to help student clubs and organizations. Even parents of alumni are grateful for their students’ experiences and are providing scholarship dollars. In 2018, Dr. Paul Minnillo, Sr. established a scholarship to provide scholarship assistance for incoming freshmen to use over several years. 

Scholarship funding from the EC community is not limited to students entering grades nine through twelve. As Elyria Catholic students continue to pursue higher education, a new trend is developing where Elyria Catholic Alumni have established scholarships to help with college expenses. The Dan and Mila Reaser Family Foundation recently established the Joan and Cecil Reaser scholarship to help an EC student with full tuition for two years plus books at Lorain County Community College. The Reaser family’s passion for EC is exhibited not only through the establishment of this scholarship, but through the multiple generations of Elyria Catholic graduates. Dan Reaser is a graduate of the Class of 1978. His mother Joan Rothgery Reaser graduated in 1952 and his children Danny Reaser and Shannon Reaser graduated in 2011 and 2015. 

Nancy J. Dowdell, Elyria Catholic High School Class of 1970, established a scholarship to help students pursuing post secondary education or training in the healthcare field or a trade. The compassion for students pursuing Catholic high school and higher education opportunities has extended to EC’s formal rival, Lorain Catholic High School. Mr. Jim King, Lorain Catholic High School graduate of the Class of 1981 has established a college scholarship for an EC student that will pay a portion of their college tuition for their next four years. Preference is given to those students who will be the first generation in their family to attend college. 

The faculty, staff, and students of Elyria Catholic are grateful to all of the alumni and community members who are supporting Catholic education in Lorain County and truly “Leaving Their Print!” If you are interested in helping to provide tuition assistance to Elyria Catholic students, please contact Michelle Hoffman at 440.230.8618 or by emailing her at  [email protected].  You can join other Elyria Catholic alumni in "Leaving Your Print " too!