John G. Blakesley Mathematical Excellence Scholarship for 8th Grade

Thanks to the generosity of John G. Blakesley, the Community Foundation is proud to offer a four-year scholarship to an Elkhart County graduating eighth-grade student, to be applied towards four years of higher education at an accredited college following the student’s high school graduation.

Awards: School counselors will nominate students. The Foundation’s Scholarship Committee will review the nominee applications and select one recipient. The recipient of the John G. Blakesley Mathematical Excellence Scholarship will be awarded approximately $1,250 a year for each of four years for a total award of $5,000. A new recipient will be selected each year.

Eligibility:

1. Student with exceptional aptitude in mathematics
2. Graduating eighth-grade student residing in Elkhart County
3. Student having completed math honors coursework
4. Student planning to attend an accredited college and enroll in a four-year degree program the fall after their high school graduation

Submit Nominee

Counselors must complete and submit the nominee’s application. The nominee application opens February 1, 2025, and applications are due March 27, 2025.

About John G. Blakesley

John G. Blakesley was born in Goshen, Indiana on February 26, 1931 to Wayne and Thelma Blakesley and was raised in Syracuse, Indiana. When he was old enough to work, he worked at a restaurant owned by his parents in Syracuse. He attended New Paris High School as a freshman and won math awards while attending school there. John then moved to Ft. Wayne and graduated from Ft. Wayne Central High School in 1949, where he again won numerous awards in mathematics.

John graduated from Yale University in 1954, majoring in economics and political science. Most of his professional career was working for the J.C. Penney Company starting in the Chesapeake Bay area and Los Angeles. He later moved to New York and Brussels, Belgium where he was a Systems Consultant for the company.

While in New York, John had several sailboats and sailed Long Island Sound. He sailed many years before deciding to go on group trips with Elderhostel when he retired. John then returned to New Haven, Connecticut to become a docent for the Yale Center for British Arts, working with third-grade students.

He moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 2007. It was there that John passed away on April 30, 2011.

John’s Legacy

“My Uncle John valued education, and he worked very hard to pay his way through college,” said Cheryl Weaver, John’s niece who served as executor of his estate. “The education he received help pave the way to enjoy the many things he was lucky to do in life. He wanted to make sure others had the same opportunity. Because of this, he asked me, his niece, to create two scholarship funds for the youth in the Elkhart County area. It is a great honor to personally be involved in my Uncle John’s legacy.”

Inspiring Good