Maggie Fry, who passed away in January 2022, was a non-traditional nursing student when she went back to school to complete her education. After nursing school, Maggie started her career at Hillsdale Hospital.
Tuition Assistance Program Offered in Memory of Local RN
HILLSDALE, Mich.—Now in its second year, the Maggie Fry Memorial Scholarship program is once again offering tuition assistance to non-traditional students pursuing a degree in nursing. Students can apply to receive up to $5,000 for the academic year. Awarding scholarships to non-traditional nursing students is in keeping with Maggie’s own journey to becoming a nurse later in her life.
Before passing away in January 2022, Maggie Fry was an ICU nurse with a Bachelor’s Degree in nursing, a clinical instructor for Spring Arbor University, a wonderful wife and an exceptional mother. She won many awards along her non-traditional college and career.
Maggie was born into poverty in the inner city of Detroit and never graduated high school. At the age of 18, she attended night classes and earned her GED, believing that she could never go further in her education. At age 36 with two children, she found herself alone to raise her kids without a penny to her name and no job. While applying for help through the community, she learned she could go to college.
Maggie was a woman of great faith and she always trusted her journey. After getting accepted into Jackson College, she still needed a way to pay for tuition. She applied for every scholarship she was eligible for, and was soon on her way to completing a nursing degree. She often said; “if not for scholarships, I never could have made it through school.”
To honor Maggie’s legacy, her husband James and close friends Becky and Chris Hodos started a scholarship fund to support non-traditional students like Maggie. At a pancake breakfast in March 2022, the group raised more than $15,000 for the fund’s inaugural year. They partnered with Hillsdale Hospital, where Maggie started her nursing career after graduating college, bringing on JJ and Tressa Hodshire to complete the scholarship committee. Just last month, the second annual pancake breakfast supporting the scholarship fund raised additional dollars to continue Maggie’s legacy and award another round of deserving students financial support for their nursing education.
“If you did not know Maggie, you missed out on one of God’s true angels,” JJ Hodshire, President & CEO, said. “We honor her life, her legacy and her passion with this scholarship.”
The Maggie Fry Memorial Scholarship application is available at hillsdalehospital.com/maggie. Applicants must be Hillsdale County residents seeking a nursing degree later than the traditional timeline of starting college immediately after high school. Applications are open now and are due on May 22 at 4 pm. To donate to the Maggie Fry Memorial Scholarship Fund, please contact the Hillsdale County Community Foundation at (517) 439-5101 or give online at abouthccf.org/donate.
