SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Seminole Indian Scout
Cemetery Association
Brackettville, Texas
On February 18, 2002, the Seminole Indian Scout Cemetery Association (SISCA) of Brackettville started a scholarship fund. The fund is set up on a year-to-year basis, depending upon available funds. This is believed to be a first for SISCA. Perhaps in the future, the association will be able to extend small scholarships to surrounding communities.
This first scholarship is in memory of Marilyn Spencer. Marilyn's mother, Mary Griner Spencer Nofi, is presently chairperson of the SISCA Scholarship Fund Committee.
Marilyn J. Spencer was a member of the Griner family and the "grand-daughter, of Carlotta Wright of Brackettville. She was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and attended the State University of New York at Old Westbury.
A very lively, energetic person, Marilyn seemed to know everyone -- US Ambassador to the U.N. Andrew Young, singers like Menudo, Full Force, and Lisa Lisa, Mayor Ed Koch of New York City, song and dance man Ben Vereen, Dr. Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, movie producer Spike Lee, and many others. Marilyn, who was for a time an editor with Simon & Schuster Publishers, was also a teacher in an adult education program, a Sunday school teacher, an important member of Delta Sigma Theta, and was active in many public services and community programs, such as "Hands Across America" and "Habitat for Humanity".
Marilyn died in a hit-and-run automobile accident on October 11, 1992, at the age of 24. She is laid to rest in the Seminole Indian Scout Cemetery in Brackettville.
Since then, Marilyn's parents, Mary Griner Spencer Nofi and Albert A. Nofi, have tried to honor with a small scholarship a student who seems to best exemplify Marilyn's spirit.
Our first scholarship contribution was well appreciated by Taylor Stevenson, Superintendent Brackett Independent. School District. The check was presented, with pleasure, to Mr. Stevenson by Joe Kelly, descendent of Seminole Indian Scout Medal of Honor recipient Pompey Factor.
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