Gleasons Start UPB Scholarship
By Kimberly Marcott Weinberg
Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
Colleen Gleason, who supervises the mail center at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, her husband, James, and their families have a history of creating scholarships to help students pay for their education.
“We just want to help kids,” James Gleason said. “It’s as simple as that. We enjoy it.”
Their latest effort to help young people was to establish the Stanley, Bettie and Robert Gleason Scholarship with a gift of $10,000 to the university. In addition to the Gleasons, the scholarship was created by Barbara and Duane Bartlebaugh, James Gleasons’ sister and brother-in-law; John and Jeanie Gleason, his brother and sister-in-law; and Suzanne Gleason, his sister-in-law.
The scholarship, which memorializes their parents and brother, will help promising and deserving students who are enrolled or plan to enroll at Pitt-Bradford.
“My parents thought it was very important to get a college education,” James Gleason said. “By creating this scholarship, we’re paying tribute to their memory, and to the memory of my brother, and also helping young people.”
Stanley Gleason founded S.M. Gleason Co. general contractors and worked there for almost 50 years. He was also an Air Force pilot during World War II. He died in November 2006.
His wife, Bettie, was a stay-at-home-mom, raising the couple’s four children. She loved race horses and enjoyed playing bridge. She died in March 2000.
Their son Robert worked with his father, first as a bricklayer and later helping him bid construction projects. He worked in the family business for almost 40 years before he died in May 2008.
The Gleason family’s $10,000 gift will be matched by the Agnes and Lyle Lewis Thomas Scholarship Challenge, which doubles their contribution. The challenge matches any gift of at least $5,000 given to create a new or add to an existing scholarship.
“It makes you feel really good that you can help students with their college expenses,” Colleen Gleason said, “particularly in these tough economic times.”
Dr. Livingston Alexander, university president, said, “Over the years, the Gleason family has been very generous in helping students on our campus pay for their college expenses. I know the students are very grateful to them, and so am I.”
As scholarship donors, the Gleasons have found out first-hand how their gift helps students. Each year, during the annual Donor Scholarship Luncheon, they meet the students who receive their scholarships.
“We love meeting the kids; it’s cool,” James Gleason said. “They’re very appreciative, and that makes us feel really good.”
The students also send them thank-you notes, which the Gleasons enjoy reading.
In her thank-you note, Paige Rockaway, a business management major from Clarks Summit, wrote, “This scholarship has definitely helped alleviate my financial burden. I honestly can’t thank you enough.”
Rockaway received the Tom and Dusty Gray Scholarship, which was created in 2002 by Colleen Gleason and her siblings, Sheila Burton and Shawn Gray. They established the scholarship to memorialize their parents, Tom and Dusty Gray; their brothers, Tim Gray and Shane Gray; and their niece, Sarah Burton.
The scholarship helps promising and deserving students with first preference given to the same student each year as long as he or she maintains good academic standing and continues to be financially eligible.
In 2003, Colleen Gleason’s sister and brother-in-law, Sheila and Gregory Burton, established the Sarah Ann Burton Memorial Scholarship to memorialize their 12-year-old daughter.
First preference for that scholarship is given to students from Bradford Area High School and is given to the same student each year until he or she completes a degree, maintains good academic standing and is financially eligible.
For more information on the Agnes and Lyle Lewis Thomas Scholarship Challenge, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 814-362-5091. To learn more about donor scholarships, contact the Office of Financial Aid at 814-362-7550.
Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
Colleen Gleason, who supervises the mail center at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, her husband, James, and their families have a history of creating scholarships to help students pay for their education.
“We just want to help kids,” James Gleason said. “It’s as simple as that. We enjoy it.”
Their latest effort to help young people was to establish the Stanley, Bettie and Robert Gleason Scholarship with a gift of $10,000 to the university. In addition to the Gleasons, the scholarship was created by Barbara and Duane Bartlebaugh, James Gleasons’ sister and brother-in-law; John and Jeanie Gleason, his brother and sister-in-law; and Suzanne Gleason, his sister-in-law.
The scholarship, which memorializes their parents and brother, will help promising and deserving students who are enrolled or plan to enroll at Pitt-Bradford.
“My parents thought it was very important to get a college education,” James Gleason said. “By creating this scholarship, we’re paying tribute to their memory, and to the memory of my brother, and also helping young people.”
Stanley Gleason founded S.M. Gleason Co. general contractors and worked there for almost 50 years. He was also an Air Force pilot during World War II. He died in November 2006.His wife, Bettie, was a stay-at-home-mom, raising the couple’s four children. She loved race horses and enjoyed playing bridge. She died in March 2000.
Their son Robert worked with his father, first as a bricklayer and later helping him bid construction projects. He worked in the family business for almost 40 years before he died in May 2008. The Gleason family’s $10,000 gift will be matched by the Agnes and Lyle Lewis Thomas Scholarship Challenge, which doubles their contribution. The challenge matches any gift of at least $5,000 given to create a new or add to an existing scholarship.
“It makes you feel really good that you can help students with their college expenses,” Colleen Gleason said, “particularly in these tough economic times.”
Dr. Livingston Alexander, university president, said, “Over the years, the Gleason family has been very generous in helping students on our campus pay for their college expenses. I know the students are very grateful to them, and so am I.”
As scholarship donors, the Gleasons have found out first-hand how their gift helps students. Each year, during the annual Donor Scholarship Luncheon, they meet the students who receive their scholarships.
“We love meeting the kids; it’s cool,” James Gleason said. “They’re very appreciative, and that makes us feel really good.”
The students also send them thank-you notes, which the Gleasons enjoy reading.
In her thank-you note, Paige Rockaway, a business management major from Clarks Summit, wrote, “This scholarship has definitely helped alleviate my financial burden. I honestly can’t thank you enough.”
Rockaway received the Tom and Dusty Gray Scholarship, which was created in 2002 by Colleen Gleason and her siblings, Sheila Burton and Shawn Gray. They established the scholarship to memorialize their parents, Tom and Dusty Gray; their brothers, Tim Gray and Shane Gray; and their niece, Sarah Burton.
The scholarship helps promising and deserving students with first preference given to the same student each year as long as he or she maintains good academic standing and continues to be financially eligible.
In 2003, Colleen Gleason’s sister and brother-in-law, Sheila and Gregory Burton, established the Sarah Ann Burton Memorial Scholarship to memorialize their 12-year-old daughter.
First preference for that scholarship is given to students from Bradford Area High School and is given to the same student each year until he or she completes a degree, maintains good academic standing and is financially eligible.
For more information on the Agnes and Lyle Lewis Thomas Scholarship Challenge, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 814-362-5091. To learn more about donor scholarships, contact the Office of Financial Aid at 814-362-7550.
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