The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

May 11, 2006

Scholarship will honor memory of fallen soldier

By Keith Gushard

JAMESTOWN — The mother of fallen soldier David Veverka can’t believe the outpouring of love from the Jamestown community.

“It’s tremendous and overwhelming,” Carol Polley said Thursday. “We’ve received hundreds of cards. It helps to know people care.”

An effort to channel that goodwill will benefit future students of Jamestown High School, where Staff Sgt. Veverka graduated in 1999.

Polley said the David Veverka Memorial Fund is being established through First National Bank of Pennsylvania. It will offer a scholarship to a Jamestown High School student.

Donations may be made to the fund at any First National Bank of Pennsylvania office, she said.

Veverka, 25, of Jamestown died Saturday in Iraq while serving with the Maine National Guard.

He will be buried Wednesday in Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery, where he served for three years as a member of the elite Old Guard. The Old Guard stands watch over the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington.

Veverka was a senior wildlife ecology major at the University of Maine. On the university’s Web site, President Robert Kennedy says, “David was well-liked and highy regarded by his fellow students and by our faculty and staff, and his death has hit the UMaine community very hard.”

University spokesman Joe Carr said a moment of silence to remember students, faculty and staff who have died in the past year is a traditional part of commencement ceremonies, but Kennedy plans to mention Veverka during his remarks at the ceremonies on Saturday.

Text Only
Local News
  • Career paths so near yet so far apart

    The subjects Rita McVey and Bonnie Sich teach have been on very different trajectories of societal favor during the course of their careers.

    May 21, 2012

  • Officials seek public input

    The time is now for Shenango Township residents to voice their opinions about the future of the township’s sewage system.

    May 21, 2012

  • Bulldog fun A breed apart

    It took quite a bit of coaxing from her human friends, but Dottie the English bulldog eventually jumped through the hoop in the obstacle course.

    May 21, 2012 8 Photos

  • United Way cuts cash



    Donations to United Way of Mercer County were down 30 percent from last year and the organization cut funding to most agencies accordingly.

    May 20, 2012

  • Township settles lawsuit over fired firefighter’s pay


    Brookfield Township trustees this month settled an open records lawsuit for $55,000 to be paid over four years to the wife of a former firefighter.

    May 20, 2012

  • Board voices shock at pain of cuts



    It was hard for school board members to comprehend how severely budget cuts they approved last week will affect future classes at Brookfield schools

    May 20, 2012

  • Board voices shock at pain of cuts

    It was hard for school board members to comprehend how severely budget cuts they approved last week will affect future classes at Brookfield schools.

    May 20, 2012

  • Council balks at paying viaduct lighting costs

    Local leaders aren’t happy that PennDOT improvements to the Main Street viaduct are costing the borough money.

    May 19, 2012

  • Records services not tied to gov’t

    Buying a home is a nightmare of paperwork and some Mercer Countians recently breaking into the market are perplexed by letters implying they need to pay more money to get their records.

    May 19, 2012

  • TV wedding Wedding bells ring at school

    Typically, screaming and jumping up and down in the hallways of Sharpsville Area Elementary isn’t allowed.

    May 19, 2012 1 Photo