Pipik family establishes scholarship
Bethlehem-Center High School students will have a shot at a college scholarship because the family of a former area man surfed the Internet. Jane Pipik of West Newton, Mass., said her family decided to establish a scholarship in her father’s name after learning about the Washington County Community Foundation (WCCF) on the Internet.
“Having heard about community foundations, we researched on the Internet for one that would be the best fit for our father’s memorial scholarship and might serve the areas in which he lived and went to school,” Pipik said.
“The Washington County Community Foundation Web site came right up on the Google search.”
Her father, Dr. Paul Pipik, grew up in Vesta 7 and attended Centerville High School.
He was the second of seven children born to a Slovak immigrant coal miner.
Dr. Pipik worked with his father and uncles in the mines for a year after high school, earning enough money to move to Cleveland for college.
He worked on a loading dock and later as a hospital orderly while attending John Carroll University. He completed his medical degree at the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 1947.
Dr. Pipik served in the U.S. Navy for two years before entering private practice in 1951.
He worked for more than 30 years at Cleveland-area hospitals, serving as chief surgeon at both Deaconess and Parma hospitals.
Dr. Pipik died in 1985 at the age of 62.
His wife, Frances, and their 10 children established the scholarship in his honor this year.
They still have relatives living in the Brownsville and Pittsburgh areas.
The Dr. Paul Pipik Fund for Study in the Health Services will support Beth-Center High School graduates pursuing careers in the health field.
The first award from the fund will be in 2003. The fund contains $5,000.
“Because our family is spread out throughout the country, everyone can log onto the WCCF Web site and see Dad’s scholarship picture and story. It’s a comfort to see it and know that his name will accompany this good work long after we’re all gone,” Pipik said.
Three former students at Bentworth High School created the Web site in 2000 as a community service project: Bradley Trew, Justin Kronz and Zachary Stepko.
Trew is a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in computer science and mathematics.
He is also an intern at the WCCF and is responsible for updating the Web site.
Kronz is a sophomore at Georgia Tech majoring in computer science and Stepko is a junior at California University of Pennsylvania, also majoring in computer science.
Applicants for the scholarship must be graduating seniors at Beth-Center High School who intend to pursue a career in health services.
They must be accepted at a post-secondary institution for the fall 2003 semester and must have a high school grade-point average of 3.0 or better.
Applicants must also provide a brief essay about themselves, including an explanation of why they feel worthy of the scholarship and their future plans.
Two character references are required. More information about the scholarship is available at www.wccf.net or by calling the WCCF at 724-222-6330.