T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY The 2022 recipients of the Loyal and Helen Fairall Memorial Scholarships were honored during an event at the American Legion Frank Lewis Glick Post #46 on Tuesday afternoon. Pictured in the back row, left to right, are Bob Miller and Vic Hellberg of the Legion along with scholarship recipients Meleah Sadler, Zach Geil, Jacob Janssen and Cole Savage. In the front row are scholarship recipient Drew Carson and Kelley Fairall-Fifer, Loyal and Helen’s daughter.

Six local students were presented with Loyal and Helen Fairall Memorial Scholarships during a ceremony at the American Legion in Marshalltown on Tuesday afternoon.

Charles Fairall established these scholarships in 2002 to honor his late parents. Loyal was a longtime attorney in Marshalltown who was active in the local veterans community and served as the Commander of Frank Lewis Glick Post #46 of the American Legion, where the ceremony was held, in 1956. He passed away in 2001. Helen was an active member of the community and died in 1987.

Charles ultimately followed in his father’s footsteps — both in serving his country and pursuing a law career — and he became well known nationally as a chief of military justice and chief prosecutor in the Army’s JAG Corps, winning all of his cases.

After sharing the story of her parents, Kelley Fairall-Fifer presented the awards on Tuesday, which went to students at Marshalltown Community College with preference to those who hail from Marshall County. To qualify, the students must maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 and be a son, daughter, grandchild or great-grandchild of a member of the U.S. military who received an honorable discharge or is still on active or reserve duty.

The following recipients were recognized: Drew Carson, a 2021 MHS graduate who is studying animal science at MCC; Zach Geil, a senior at MHS who plans to study pre-engineering at MCC with the eventual goal of transferring to Iowa State University; Jacob Janssen, a 2022 West Marshall graduate who will study computer science at MCC with the goal of working in the IT field; Addison Lane, a 2022 East Marshall graduate who plans to work toward an eventual masters program in speech pathology; Meleah Sadler, a 2021 Hudson High School graduate who is attending MCC and pursuing an associate degree in nursing with the intent to work toward a BSN at Allen College; and Cole Savage, a 2019 South Tama graduate who is an active member of the Iowa National Guard and currently serves as a police officer with the city of Toledo. Savage plans to continue working as a police officer while he pursues education and certification to become a physical education teacher.