After their daughter was killed in a car accident, Jerry and Roberta Ransom

decided to help students in their community pursue a higher education.

Erin Ransom graduated from Lyle High School in 1995 with a goal of becoming a nurse.

She enrolled at Riverland Community College and played basketball for the Lady Blue Devils.

On May 3, 1998, she was involved in a car accident and died at age 21.

Community members came together to support the family she had left behind: her parents Jerry and Roberta and her siblings Kristen and Cory.

The parents, in turn, gave back to the community in her honor.

They established the Erin Ransom Memorial Scholarship to help Lyle High School graduates who plan to attend Riverland Community College.

The original scholarship endowment of $8,000 was made possible with the help of Lutheran Brotherhood and the Lutheran Community Foundation as well as donations from family and friends.

The Lutheran Community Foundation in Minneapolis, which now manages the fund, said individual philanthropy is growing in popularity. People want to give back to the community for a variety of reasons and find that companies like the LCF make it easier to do so, according to LCF.

The scholarship has been giving one student a year since 1999 money for school and the Ransoms plan to do so indefinitely.

"It's important to keep it going," Roberta said.

Four students have received the scholarship since.

Students like David Frank and Jessie Schnieder. Frank won a $500 scholarship in May 2002. He is now in his first year at the Riverland Albert Lea campus in the construction electrician program.

Frank said he was happy when he found out he got it and said it, along with other scholarships, help.

"It adds up. It pays for some tuition, some books," Frank said.

Schnieder, a 2000 Lyle graduate, is finishing up her last semester at Riverland and plans to go into nursing. She said the money she received paid for half of her tuition for a semester.

"It really helped out a lot. I pay for college myself and I don't get any financial aid," Schnieder said.

She said she knows the Ransom family because Erin's siblings were a year ahead and behind her in school.

"I think it was a very good idea," Schnieder said of the scholarship. "It's a way to give other people a chance to go into something."

Schnieder said her job as a nursing assistant at St. Mark's Lutheran Home has confirmed her interest in nursing.

"I'm glad I've started nursing," Schnieder said. She plans to attend Rochester Community and Technical College after completing her general credits at Riverland.

The scholarship applicants are chosen by Lyle School officials. Each year the Lutheran Community Foundation sends a check with the amount of the scholarship for that year to the Riverland Community Foundation. Once the student starts school, the check is forwarded to Riverland Community College.

The scholarship is presented to the student at commencement by a faculty member who knew Erin, Roberta said. Part of the introduction to the presentation reads, "The purpose of this scholarship is to not only keep the memory of Erin alive in this community, but to also fulfill a wish that the dreams and aspirations, many of which were cut short and unrealized in Erin's life, will be fulfilled in the life of our recipient."

Mike Ruzek, district representative for Thrivant Financial in Austin, told the Ransoms about the LCF as a way to manage and maintain the fund.

To raise money for the scholarship the Lutheran Brotherhood Mower County Branch 8675 and Cedar River Branch 8195 held a fund-raiser at Riverland Community College with a goal of raising $5,000.

"It was so good to have people coming together for a good cause like that," Ruzek said.

Curt Nelson, director of community grants at the Lutheran Community Foundation, said as long as the LCF, Riverland and Lyle School exist, so will the scholarship.

The Ransoms chose a LCF scholarship fund as their giving option, which Nelson said comprises 20 percent of the charitable funds the company manages.

"Scholarship funds are very popular," Nelson said. "People see it as a way to directly benefit the students."

The fund needs to stay at a minimum of $5,000, which is invested in a combination of stocks and bonds. Then, 5.5 percent of the fund's balance is distributed each year, so the scholarship varies depending on the fund's growth.

LCF takes care of managing the fund and tax procedures, Nelson said.

"(People) can simply sit back and see how they're changing lives and spreading joy in their communities," Nelson said.

Roberta said the LCF has been good to work with because it lets them know what's happening with the fund.

"They keep us up to date on things that are going on. It's been a really good experience," Roberta said.

A plaque hangs in the Lyle School trophy cabinet with the names of the recipients of the Erin Ransom Memorial Scholarship. Even though students may not remember Erin as the Lyle student who played basketball and participated in band, her memory will carry on, Roberta said.

"I think it's very rewarding for us," Roberta said. "It's a good feeling to know that through the scholarship someone can benefit from tragedy."

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at :mailto:cari.quam@austindailyherald.com