The Cattarin Family Scholarship

"The Cattarin Family Scholarship was formed to honor my parents, Joe, an Italian immigrant, and Sarabel for their life of helping those who were in need. They led a life that emphasized paying forward for the help they themselves had received from the many folks who had contributed to their success. They urged my brothers and me to also never forget how many people helped us in reaching our goals and to find ways to help others. This scholarship is one of the ways I could do that. Additionally, I realized how many of my values were attributable to growing up in St. Marys, a small rural Midwestern town, as well as from the many wonderful teachers that I had there. Then my experiences at The Ohio State University continued to help shape the person that I have become. Those experiences included meeting my future wife, Sandy."

This Cattarin Family Scholarship provides an opportunity for the Cattarin family to continue their support for the community of St. Marys by providing financial assistance for an individual to further his or her education at the college level. Recipients of the Cattarin Family Scholarship will be in a better position to become productive members of their community because of their college education and their small-town, mid-American upbringing.

"While I had been supporting OSU over the years with donations to many different departments, organizations and general funds with what I could afford at the time, the idea for this specific scholarship came through discussions with Lauren Seligman from the OSU Office of Academic Affairs. She listened to me talk about my life, my parents, my family, my values and my goals and created this specific scholarship. I am indebted to her for her skills that allowed me to support all of my goals by establishing this scholarship, which awards a four-year scholarship to one student each year from St. Marys Memorial High School who chooses to attend The Ohio State University. I didn't realize at the time that it would be me, in fact, who would get more back from this scholarship than the students who received it. Meeting and getting to know these young students through their years at OSU brings my wife and my family so much pleasure and keeps us young at heart. I believe that these students will meet my goal for scholarship and use their talents to make the world a better place."

We would love to hear what compels you to make a change; contact Leslie Kreinberg at kreinberg.3@osu.edu or at 614-247-6600 to share your story with us.