WAIMEA — The Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital Auxiliary announced its four scholarship winners, and the recipient of a special scholarship — the Patricia L. Beck Memorial Scholarship — donated by KVMH Auxiliary member, and former Women’s Health APRN Virginia Beck in honor of her mother, Patricia Beck.
Patricia Beck and another young widow rode the ambulances in continuous alternating 12-hour shifts during Adolf Hitler’s relentless bombing on London during World War II, rescuing the injured and the dead from the rubble of the Blitz.
These two single mothers shared and lived in a one-bedroom flat, taking turns caring for each other’s babies as well as caring for the basic needs of living.
Following the War, Patricia served as a Red Cross Disaster Crisis and Team Volunteer for more than 50 years.
She encouraged many young women to start their careers in the nursing field based on her own nursing career and a particular interest in maternal child health.
Leslie Uri, graduating recently from Waimea High School, is the recipient of the $1,000 Patricia L. Beck Memorial Scholarship that will help her when she attends Washington State University in the fall to pursue a degree in nursing.
The KVMH Auxiliary Scholarship Program encourages high school and current post-secondary students who in the South and Westside communities, especially those who are interested in pursuing a career in the health, or allied health field, to apply for scholarships each year.
The KVMH Auxiliary offers scholarships in the amount of $1,000 with funds being raised through the efforts of the KVMH Gift Shop volunteers as well as through annual fundraising events like the Mother’s Day Plant and Orchid Sale, and the Holiday Craft and Product Fair.
“While 2020 has been a most special year, thus far, the KVMH Auxiliary continues to be committed in assisting the needs of the Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital and their outlying clinics,” said Brycen Hiranaka of the KVMH Auxiliary. “We are truly honored to have the continued support of the hospital’s employees, and the West Kaua‘i community.”
This year’s KVMH Auxiliary scholarship recipients include Ethan Yamamoto, Marcus Schultz, Kaela Tsuchiya, and Wade Pimsaguan who will be pursuing a degree in Exercise Science and Dietetics from the Pacific University starting this fall.
Yamamoto, a standout Menehune boys soccer player, will be heading to the University of Nevada Las Vegas to pursue a degree in Biomedical Engineering, and Schultz will be heading to the University of Oregon for a degree in Biology.
Tsuchiya will be attending the Kaua‘i Community College with an eye toward Biology and Nursing.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
