ELLA SLADE | TIMES HERALD Gary Haverman, the father of Andy Haverman, stands with 2024 Andy Haverman Memorial Scholarship winner Lucas Obert of Coon Rapids-Bayard High School.
ELLA SLADE | TIMES HERALD Gary Haverman, the father of Andy Haverman, founded the Andy Haverman Memorial Scholarship in 1997 after the loss of his son. He wears a pin with Andy’s picture on his hat – “He’s always with me.”
ELLA SLADE | TIMES HERALD Gary Haverman, the father of Andy Haverman, stands with 2024 Andy Haverman Memorial Scholarship winner Lucas Obert of Coon Rapids-Bayard High School.
ELLA SLADE | TIMES HERALD Gary Haverman, the father of Andy Haverman, founded the Andy Haverman Memorial Scholarship in 1997 after the loss of his son. He wears a pin with Andy’s picture on his hat – “He’s always with me.”
Lucas Obert, who will be a senior this year at Coon Rapids-Bayard, was named the 2024 recipient of the Andy Haverman Memorial Scholarship.
Obert was named an All-State Iowa High School Speech Association Individual Events performer in March of this year and will volunteer at the Catholic Youth Camp in Panora this summer. At Boys State this summer, Obert held the elected titles of Adjunct General and City Councilman.
The American Legion of Iowa Boys State is a week-long, hands-on youth civics leadership experience in the operation of the democratic form of government.
The $500 scholarship is in memory of Andy Haverman, a 1996 Boys State Citizen. The award is given based on staff recommendations and performance during the Boys State session, and is provided by the Haverman family and Dedham American Legion Post #20.
Delegates or citizens of Boys State are selected and sponsored to participate through their local American Legion Post, based on outstanding merit, scholarship and leadership qualities.
At Boys State, each high school attendee participates in a mock government with elected officials. Andy Haverman was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996.
Gary Haverman, Andy’s father and the 8th District SAL adviser for Boys State, said Andy, among 500 other Boys State members, returned on June 19, 1996, from a visit to the Iowa Capitol.
While on a swim that day with a group of boys, Andy drowned for unknown reasons. He was the third of six children.
“He could swim, we don’t know what happened,” Haverman said. “But he drowned there.”
The next day, Haverman said, Boys State members passed a hat around to collect money for Andy’s family, donating a check over $2,000 at his funeral.
Haverman wanted to give the money back to Boys State.
“It was decided it would be best to put it in the form of a scholarship,” he said.
A member of the Dedham Post #20, Haverman said, the Legion donated money to bring the scholarship up from $250 to $500. Now, 28 years since Andy’s passing, the scholarship has continued to honor his memory by awarding boys from Iowa each year.
Haverman, who lives in Dedham, said Obert is the closest awardee to the area he’s seen in his time handing out the scholarship.
Haverman said Obert was selected as an alternate representative for the Boys Nation program, which brings two representatives from each of the 49 Boys States to represent Boys Nation in Washington.
While Obert was not able to attend Boys Nation due to his commitment at the Catholic Youth Camp in Panora, Haverman said he was chosen to receive Andy’s scholarship because of his high scores and application.
“He could not even be an alternate if he can’t go, if he wasn’t available for those days,” Haverman said. “So that brought him to the Andy scholarship.”
Haverman spoke highly of Obert, who attends mass at his church every Saturday.
“He’s very, very good,” he said. “If you meet him in person, he’s a dynamic personality.”
After high school, Obert said he plans to attend a four-year institution to study political science and international relations.
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