Macomb Community College student Elise Radzioch, 19, of Sterling Heights, center, was the recipient of the Laura K. Osaer, D.O., Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the Sciences. Pictured with her are Laura Osaer’s parents, Debbie Osaer, left, and Rob Osaer, right.
By: Maria Allard | Fraser-Clinton Chronicle | Published June 8, 2022
CLINTON TOWNSHIP — On April 27, Macomb Community College Foundation officials held the 2022 Donor Scholarship Luncheon with approximately 140 donors, students and college representatives in attendance.
The event, held at the Lorenzo Cultural Center on the college’s Center Campus, recognized donors whose contributions make scholarships available to current and incoming students.
During the last fiscal year, July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, the college awarded more than $450,000 in scholarships to more than 400 Macomb students. Contributions to the foundation also support funding for programs.
Keynote speaker Debbie Osaer, who with her family established the Laura K. Osaer, D.O. Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the Sciences, spoke about her late daughter’s goals and passions. The scholarship, new this year, was presented to Elise Radzioch, 19, of Sterling Heights. Radzioch is working to complete at Macomb the prerequisites for a bachelor’s degree in optometry. Radzioch plans to graduate from Macomb in the spring of 2023 and transfer to Ferris State University to pursue a doctorate in optometry.
“At 25 years old, Laura was in her final year of medical school at Michigan State University and looking forward to a career that would allow her to do what she did best, help others. Like all of us, Laura had dreams and goals she wanted to accomplish,” Osaer said in a prepared statement. “It’s important not to focus on the future that was lost, but the lessons of caring and giving to others that she showed us.”
Attendees also heard from the luncheon’s student speaker, Charlie Havern, 26, of Sterling Heights. He graduated in May 2020 from Macomb with an emergency medical technician certificate and is continuing to prepare for the national exam for paramedic licensure. The Chesterfield Fire Department firefighter is the recipient of the Chief Gerald B. Alward Scholarship for Fire Academy, a new scholarship established this year to continue Chief Alward’s legacy by helping train future firefighters.
According to college officials, Havern discovered his passion for firefighting while working in the galley on a cruise ship out of Hawaii. After undergoing firefighting training aboard the ship, he returned home to Macomb to be closer to his parents and 11 siblings while taking EMT training to begin a new career. It was Chief Alward who encouraged him.
“I can’t explain the honor it is to receive the Chief Gerald B. Alward Scholarship,” Havern said in a Macomb Community College press release. “Talking to Chief Alward on Zoom before he passed away made me realize I wasn’t starting my career too late and that it is the right thing for me to do. Finally, the right career at the right time, and he knew that for me too.”
The following new Macomb scholarships also were announced at the luncheon:
• The Elaine Belich Memorial Culinary Scholarship, in memory of Elaine Belich, for culinary students facing financial challenges.
• The Dental Sciences Scholarship Fund and Dental Sciences Program Fund, to support the needs of the dental science program and students at Macomb.
• The Leader Foundry, to provide financial assistance to students enrolled in applied, automotive, climate control technology and apprenticeship programs at Macomb.
• The Macomb Student Immediate Relief Fund, to address the financial hardships facing students, including tuition and other immediate needs.
• The William and Lesley Metz Memorial Scholarship, to recognize students with academic achievement or potential in an academic area who are enrolled in a credit program.
• The Thomas R. Mill Memorial Scholarship, to continue Mill’s legacy of firefighting, emergency medical services and police training at Macomb.
• The Arlington E. Pullins Memorial Nursing Scholarship, designed to assist students who wish to pursue any number of arts disciplines in speech communication, humanities or social science.
• The Willa J. Pullins Memorial Nursing Scholarship, to provide scholarship assistance to students enrolled in the nursing program at Macomb.
• The Tom “Wakes” Waelchli Memorial Baseball Scholarship, in memory of Coach Wakes, to continue his legacy and passion for Macomb’s baseball program.
• The Denise Williams Professional Development Fund, for the professional development and growth of Macomb Community College employees.