Firefighters Scholarship a Tribute to Weston Close & Lucas Sunderman

For many years, the Huntington Firefighters Association has been awarding scholarships to Huntington County students utilizing proceeds from their annual golf outing. Early in 2013, the Firefighters came to the Foundation searching for a way to make sure their scholarship program would continue indefinitely. The result was the creation of an endowment fund that would award the scholarships if the golf outing was ever discontinued. Over the years, no distribution from the endowment has been needed and proceeds from the golf outing have been used to increase the value and future impact of the endowment.

The Huntington Firefighters Association Weston Close, Lucas Sunderman Scholarship is a permanent memorial to two sons of Huntington Firefighters who passed away in two separate car accidents in 2006.

Weston was very active in Huntington County 4-H and was a member of the Bippus Calvary United Methodist Church. He enjoyed playing Huntington County Baseball for the Andrews Lions Team and wrestling for the Huntington North Vikings. In addition to his extracurriculars, he worked at Close Builders in Bippus and Stephan Trucking in Roanoke. He had many hobbies and loved hunting, fishing and the outdoors. He passed away on June 29, 2006 at the age of 16. Huntington North wrestling also hosts the Weston Close Memorial Classic annually in honor of Weston.

After graduating from Huntington North High School in 2003, Lucas went on to achieve an Associates Degree in Architectural Drafting from ITT Technical Institute in Fort Wayne. He spent four years working at Close Builders before he started work at Affordable Luxury Homes in Markle. In addition, he farmed with his family in Lancaster Township. Like Weston, he also loved hunting, fishing, and being outdoors. He passed away on September 23, 2006 at the age of 21.

We congratulate Katie Hunt, Emily Klepper, Melanie Lisinicchia, and Morgan McNally for being the 2017 Close & Sunderman Scholars! Read more about the 2017 recipients in a Huntington County TAB article here.

For more news and information regarding this endowment and other endowments held at HCCF, please explore www.huntingtonccf.org and like us on Facebook at huntingtonccf.