The family of Roy ('65) and Judy (Baker '66) Claypool have been in attendance at Worth County schools since 1953. The couple not only attended but worked within the school. Roy was a bus driver for 10 years. Judy worked as a librarian assistant, lunch cafeteria server and carpool chauffeur to many kids for 32 years. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of this milestone, a scholarship has been developed to financially assist a senior student who is enrolled in the dual credit college course program for both winter and spring semesters. It takes a tremendous amount of ambition, endurance, persistence and support to be studying academics in high school and college at the same time. We find that Kara Staton has shown all the above attributes and we would like to congratulate her on a job well done. Miss Staton has been accepted into the pre-veterinary program at NWMSU. We wish her the best as she pursues a full-filling career. Our family has been blessed in so many ways from our community that we find it only fitting to pay it forward. Other family members that attended WOCO are Jon and Veronica; Tyeson; Chancey and Brent; Victoria and Pren; Stefanie and Justin; Jacob; Victoria, Jake, Newt; and Brennen, Brooke, Maddyx and Bodhie.
Two additional scholarships have been created for students enrolled in dual credit courses at Worth County. Those scholarships are the Dr. Pren James Ross, MD and Estelle McLean Ross, RN Scholarship and the Hawk-Ross Scholarship.
The first of these scholarships, the Dr. Pren James Ross, MD and Estelle McLean Ross, RN Scholarship is provided by the descendants of the James “Jim” Pren and Marie “Louise” Hawk Ross family from Grant City, Missouri.
Dr. Ross was a graduate of Grant City High School in the class of 1905, and Estelle McLean was a graduate from Thayer, Nebraska, in 1911. They had one son, James Pren Ross, who graduated from Grant City High School in 1947. His wife Louise Hawk Ross graduated from Sheridan, Missouri, in 1950 and three grandchildren have graduated from Worth County R-3.
In 1915, P.J. Ross graduated from medical school in St. Louis, Missouri. He returned to Grant City to set up practice and continue his love of farming. In 1917, Dr. Ross enlisted in World War I where he served until he was honorably discharged and sent back to Grant City, Missouri, because there wasn’t a doctor able to fill his practice in his absence. Prior to Dr. Ross’ passing in 1956, he was recognized by and admitted to the Stork Club; a feat which required Dr. Ross to have delivered over 1,700 babies in the local community.
After graduating from the Sisters Hospital of Nursing School in 1916, Estelle McLean enlisted as a Red Cross Nurse. The following year she served in World War I. In 1918, Nurse McLean was removed from the front lines after suffering injuries from grenade shrapnel while tending to injured soldiers in the battle trenches of France.
Dr. Ross and Estelle were united in marriage in 1925. They continued to serve the Worth County community through countless hours of making house calls and tending to others’ needs. A gift from Dr. Ross to the city in memory of Estelle, who was the only woman Legionnaire in the county, was the “Honor Roll” wall which carries the names of all service men and women at that time. It now stands in the courtyard.
Tyler New, the son of Les (’91) and Rebecca New was selected to receive the Dr. Pren James Ross, MD and Estelle McLean Ross, RN Scholarship. Tyler is a senior at Worth County and is interested in pursuing sports medicine or physical therapy at Northwest Missouri State University.
The second dual credit scholarship is the Hawk-Ross Scholarship provided by the family of Lazarus “Laz” Leo and Hazel Byrl Hennigan Hawk and the James “Jim” Pren and Marie “Louise” Hawk Ross family. Bridgette Hightshoe, daughter of Bill and Leena Hightshoe, was selected to receive the Hawk-Ross Dual Credit Scholarship. Bridgette is a junior at Worth County and is interested in becoming a veterinarian after high school.
Laz and Hazel’s five children all graduated from Sheridan Missouri: Louise Hawk Ross (‘50), Don Hawk and Bonnie Hawk Taylor (’52), Jack Hawk (’54) and Sarah Ann Hawk Bergman (’57). Laz and Hazel also had 12 grandchildren who attended Worth County R-3, and 11 great grandchildren who have attended or are currently attending Worth County R-3.
Laz and Hazel began their farming business in the 1920’s and continued through the late 1970’s. In the current era where farming over 10,000 acres is not uncommon, Laz and his two sons were recognized as one of the largest farmers in the Midwest in the 1960’s. They leave behind seven successors who continue to farm in the Worth County community; they too farm with the belief of leaving the land better than they found it.
Jim (‘47) and Louise Ross (‘50) had three children who all graduated from Worth County R-3: Brad Ross (‘75), Katherine Ross Kannady (‘77) and Pren Ross (‘82).
Jim and Louise were both lifetime Worth County community residents. They both enacted their entrepreneurial rolls alongside each other actively for many years in the community within a mixture of business developments which included auctioneering, agriculture, and manufactured housing. They were constantly involved in many of the growing community’s activities and functions and were always wanting to do more to develop the place they always called “home”.
It is with much gratitude the Worth County Education Foundation has been asked to partner with the donors of these scholarships and provide connections between them and the students at Worth County R-3.
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