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TAMAQUA — Lansford native Joe Puskar has established an Endowed Scholarship Fund at Marian Catholic High School in memory of his wife, Linda Neunlist Mann, for the benefit of an incoming freshman each year at Marian.
Linda Neunlist Mann passed away May 2 at the couple’s home in Tucson, Ariz.
Linda earned a BA and MSW from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D from the University of Maryland.
Following their retirement, Joe and Linda made their home in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and then to Tucson. For many years, Linda worked for the Maryland Department of Social Services, Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., health management firms, adoption agencies, and for Westat, a health care research company in Rockville, Md.
“I was pleased to announce this endowed scholarship at Marian to honor my late wife,” Puskar said. “Linda was a great champion for education and I know she would be honored to have this scholarship established at my alma mater.”
“The impact of these scholarships cannot be overstated,” said Head of School Michael Brennan ’06, noting that 60 percent of Marian students are the beneficiary of some form of financial aid.
Endowed scholarships at Marian Catholic High School are designed to give annual awards to students indefinitely. The term endowed means that the gift from the donor is invested. A portion of the interest earned then provides yearly scholarships for students, while the original gift or principal is never used. Year after year, the remainder of the interest plus dividends and capital gains earned are reinvested so the principal grows. As the size of the principal grows, the interest earned also grows and provides larger amounts to award to students.
Catholic Investment Services of Boston, Mass., manages the school’s growing endowment funds.
A minimum of $50,000 is needed as principal for at least one year before awards from an endowed scholarship can be given to students. Gifts of any size may be added to the fund over a span of five years to reach the $50,000 starting point. Estate gifts to an endowed scholarship do not have a time limit.
To learn more about creating an Endowed Scholarship at Marian, please contact Michael Brennan ’06, Head of School at (570) 467-3335 or email mbrennan@mariancatholichs.com, or Dr. Erin Marek, Director of Advancement at (570) 467-3335 or email at emarek@mariancatholichs.com.
Marian Catholic High School opened in September 1954 and has graduated more than 8,000 students, now living in all 50 states and abroad. The school also calls alumni from the four predecessor high schools, St. Ann’s High School in Lansford, St. Mary’s High School in Coaldale, St. Jerome’s High School in Tamaqua, and Mauch Chunk Catholic High School in Jim Thorpe as its own.
Marian Catholic High School opened its school year in September 2024 with an enrollment of nearly 285 students in grades 9 to 12.
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