Scholarship established for former Tamaqua school employee

The children of the late Ethel Williams Berner have endowed a scholarship in her memory for a Tamaqua Area High School senior.

Berner was the secretary to the principal of Tamaqua High for 26 years. She retired in 1982 and died in 2012. She was a 1932 graduate of Tamaqua high.

The Tamaqua Blue Raider Foundation will administer the scholarship. The foundation expects that the scholarship will be $1,000 and, per the family’s instructions, be awarded on a needs basis to a senior who wishes to study at a business school and exhibits a work ethic Berner would be proud of.

The scholarship was endowed with a $25,000 contribution. Berner raised four children as a single mother. The children are Sally Jo Berner Skeath (deceased), Judith Berner Jackson, Ethlyn M. Berner and R Thomas Berner, a member of the foundation board.

According to its website, “The Tamaqua Blue Raider Foundation is an independent organization that generates and distributes financial support to enrich and expand the educational experience of students in the Tamaqua Area School District.”

The foundation also administers these scholarships: Joseph M. Plasko Scholar-Athlete Fund, Karen Marie Mateyak Award Fund, Frances K. Miller Scholarship, Edward Zukovich Scholarship and Kim Griffith Memorial Scholarship.