Scholarship honors Lanesville couple

By JO ANN SPIETH-SAYLOR
Staff Writer
jsaylor@seidata.com

The Lanesville Dollars for Scholars will be able to award two additional scholarships annually, beginning next spring, thanks to the generosity of the children of a Franklin Township couple.

Alphonse and Dolores Schmelz's four sons and daughter established the scholarship fund through the Harrison County Community Foundation to provide two graduating seniors - one male and one female - from Lanesville Junior-Senior High School with one scholarship each. The recipients must have participated in school-sponsored athletics for at least two years.

"Dad basically was involved in the athletics of the school from the first year he drove a bus," said Kenneth Schmelz of Corydon.

Kenneth and his brothers and sister - Richard, David and Lawrence Schmelz, all of Georgetown, and Angela Schmelz of Burke, Va. - also wanted the fund to honor their mother's memory.

Alphonse, born May 23, 1928, died Feb. 11, 2002, at age 73 after battling cancer. He drove a bus for the Lanesville schools for more than 30 years, logging more than 170,000 miles on his regular school route plus another 50,000-some miles for sporting events and field trips.

Schmelz was active in his church parish, a member and supporter of many organizations in the community, including Knights of Columbus, Franklin Township Athletic Club, Franklin Township Farm Bureau and the Indiana School Bus Drivers Association. He supported them with his time and money.

At Alphonse's funeral at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lanesville, Jerry Reinhardt, a close friend, said, "Now it is our challenge - each of us in our own way, his family and friends - to put a little of Alphonse in each of us and visit the sick, care about our neighbors, love our families, support our school and church, and make this community a better place to live. That is what will make the life of Alphonse Schmelz a worthwhile
endeavor on this earth."

Behind every good man is a good woman. Dolores Schmelz (May 26, 1929 to June 4, 1994) worked briefly at a shirt factory in New Albany before becoming a full-time homemaker and a farmer's wife. She was remembered at her funeral for caring for others.

"The thing I remember as much as anything else is how (Dolores) and Alphonse both fussed over my dad after my own mother died, frequently going up the hill and doing something for him," said Father Damian Schmelz, a cousin from Ferdinand. "Dad could boil water pretty well, but that was about the extent of his cooking. (Dolores) fed him lots of times. "And that was just one small example of the kind of woman that she was,
somebody that cared and did something about the caring," he said.

Their children knew when their father died that they wanted to establish a memorial fund. The scholarship idea evolved as they talked with school personnel at Lanesville. "We agreed to take what was given in memorial gifts and add part of our inheritance to establish the fund," Kenneth said. The Lanesville Community Dollars for Scholars trustees will administer the scholarship each year.

The Harrison County Community Foundation will continue to match, up to $25,000, any contributions made to the Schmelz Memorial fund. Checks should be payable to Harrison County Community Foundation and mailed to P.O. Box 279, Corydon, IN 47112. Be sure to write "Schmelz Memorial" on the memo line of the check. All contributions are tax deductible.