Life-long Chillicothe natives Kathryn “Kitty” Hess and James Vangundy have established an endowed scholarship at Ohio University Chillicothe to support students in Chillicothe and Ross County.
The endowment will provide a scholarship each year for a student or students who are enrolled in or accepted for admission to Ohio University Chillicothe, have a minimum of 3.0 GPA, have demonstrated a financial need and graduated from a Ross County or Chillicothe City School District school.
“This scholarship endowment has been on our minds for quite a while,” said Hess. “We both believe education is so important and we wanted to help local children in some small way. We felt by establishing an endowed scholarship program we could help some local children further their education who might not be financially able to do so. We are both so excited to be able to help in some small way. We are lifelong residents of Chillicothe and it is our way of giving back to the community we love and at the same time furthering the education of local young adults.”
Hess and Vangundy are active in the community and have dedicated their lives to the service of others. Hess attended Miami Jacobs College and The Ohio State University and dedicated her first career to the Veterans Administration medical center in Chillicothe. There, she was promoted to chief of medial administration and she went on to become executive assistant to the medical center director at clinics in Cincinnati; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; and Chillicothe. Since her retirement in 1994, Hess began her second career in real estate and is the corporate director of Kear Realty in Chillicothe.
Vangundy is a veteran of the United States Army and a 1956 graduate of Chillicothe High School. He spent 33 years working for the Ohio Department of Transportation as the supervisor of construction before retiring in 1991.
“The impact of this endowed scholarship on the future of our students is extraordinary,” said Dean Martin Tuck. “This gift ensures that substantial resources are in place to provide a valuable, quality education for the recipients who attend OUC. On behalf of the students who will benefit from this generous endowment, I thank Kitty and Jim for their abiding support to OUC and for helping to further educational endeavors in Chillicothe.”