Scholarship would pay tribute to Kathy Orr-McDonald By Dennis Spaeth
Several Northern Star alums need your help to create a memorial for Kathy Orr-McDonald, a former Northern Star editor who died in 1997. The goal is to establish a memorial scholarship fund through the NIU Foundation. An annual $500 scholarship would be awarded to a Star staffer who, among other things, shows the same integrity and instinct for news as did Kathy in her brief life.
Kathy died of natural causes in July 1997 at age 34. She was an award-winning business writer for the Daily Southtown.
To establish the scholarship, at least $12,500 is needed to sustain the fund from year to year, awarding the interest as the scholarship. The first step? Building a mailing list of Star alums who worked with Kathy. The list will be used to announce fund-raising events for the memorial scholarship fund. If you can help with this mailing list or in any other way, please call one of the following former Star alums organizing this effort:
- Mark Bonne, (815) 987-1389;
- Mary Butler, (312) 575-2757;
- Sharyl Holtzman;
- Dennis Spaeth, (312) 440-2777;
- Phil Jurik, (708) 633-5980