Former student leaves more than $335,000 to SCC

SYLVA - In life, Pamala Shirley experienced some of her greatest joys by offering a helping hand to others.

Though she passed away last August, steps have been taken to ensure that her legacy of being a friend will remain alive and well.

On Tuesday, May 22, Franklin-based attorney Robert F. Siler and Dean Henson, the executor of Shirley's will, presented a check and bank note totaling $338,641 to Southwestern Community College. That amount - which is the single-largest donation ever to the College - will be used to set up a scholarship that will make it easier for single parents to get a college education.

Janice Mason, a close friend for 10 years, said Shirley was moved by the hard-working people she met while attending classes at SCC.

"She grew to have a lot of respect for the students she got to know who were holding down jobs while raising a family and coming to school," said Mason, who worked with Shirley at Belden until the plant closed down in 1999. "She got to where she just loved the kids at SCC. She wanted to help them get ahead. I don't think she expected to have that kind of love for the students; it just happened when she started going to college."

Shirley was working toward a degree in Office Systems Technology when she suffered a massive heart attack during a Business Communication class on Aug. 28. Attempts by classmate Chris Bowers and administrator Thom Brooks to revive her were unsuccessful.

In her honor, classmates, friends and SCC officials planted a cedar tree between Founders Hall and Oaks Hall last fall.

Years from now, students who never knew her will walk to and from classes under the shade of that tree as a direct result of her generosity in establishing this scholarship. The first beneficiary, however, will be someone who knew her well. In a gesture of appreciation for his heroic efforts at reviving Shirley, Bowers has been chosen as the first recipient. Henson, who served as executor of the will, specifically asked that Bowers receive the first scholarship. And SCC President Cecil Groves said the College will honor that request.

"When she was alive," Mason said, "she just really wanted to help people. It was like her goal in life."

With the establishment of the Pamala T. Shirley Scholarship Fund and the plans to award the first scholarship this fall, there can be no doubt that Pam Shirley achieved her goal.