CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - Ella May McTurk is inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for students attending two-year colleges. McTurk was inducted in 2015 before graduating from Marshalltown Community College in 2017.

Receiving her associate of general studies degree from Marshalltown Community College at age 76, Ella May McTurk inspired her classmates.

On May 17, McTurk passed away at the age of 81. She was preceded in death by her husband Gavin Anderson McTurk and worked to earn her degree as a promise to her husband before his passing.

A memorial scholarship was initiated by friends of McTurk to help other non-traditional students pursue their dreams.

Assistant to Provost Donna Thompson, she met McTurk when she worked at MCC’s student success center, where McTurk frequently visited. Thompson said the two became close and meshed well.

“She was a unique person,” Thompson said. “She would tell it like it is. She was very organized. She really wanted to do well with her studies and get good grades. As a non-traditional student, she exemplified what a student should actually be. She was pretty amazing.”

She said other students looked to McTurk for guidance on how to stay organized and on how to take notes during class.

“Just because she was so personable, people were drawn to her,” Thompson said.

After hearing about McTurk’s passing, Thompson contacted other faculty who also had formed a connection with her, and soon a scholarship was set up through the MCC Foundation.

One staff member she reached out to was George Johnson, a now retired member of MCC’s business faculty who had McTurk in his classes. He said McTurk was energetic, open-minded, accepting and highly motivated to learn.

“I think we need more scholarships in the names of good people,” Johnson said. “She is a perfect example. A non-traditional student comes back, not to get a better job or to get a better pay, but she came back to better herself.”

He said he wants whoever receives the scholarship to remember her name.

“I want them to remember the person,” Johnson said. “I want them to remember why she was there and I want them to do a good job for her and themselves.”

The McTurk scholarship will be geared toward non-traditional students, such as those who worked or started a family instead of attending college after high school, or those who as they grew older started to think about college as an option. Thompson and Johnson said there are many non-traditional students who attend MCC.

Fellow classmate Janie Ferneau remembers McTurk from being a part of Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society for two-year colleges.

“I was at first very surprised that she was a student and not an instructor,” Ferneau said. “But she was inspiring because I was in my 40s. If she can do this, so can I.”

She said a scholarship for non-traditional students is great, particularly because many non-traditional students don’t have the same access to scholarships as traditional students.

“Some of them are single or raising families and need to work, so they could use the extra financial support,” Ferneau said.

Another fellow classmate Reggie Prather, said he considered McTurk to be a friend. Prather was also a non-traditional student. He first attended MCC at the age of 43 after retiring from the military.

Sharing a science class and also seeing McTurk at the student success center, the two would talk about classwork and also about life. Prather said the two could relate on both being non-traditional students.

“The simple fact that she was as old as she was and going back to school, that’s an inspiration. It would be an inspiration for anybody. I know it was for me,” Prather said.

Donations to the scholarship fund can be made online at www.marshalltowncommunitycollagefoundation.org/donate. Checks can also be mailed or brought directly to the MCC Foundation at 3700 S. Center in Marshalltown.

An anonymous donor is matching the first $500 donated for the scholarship.

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Contact Trevor Babcock at 641-754-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.