By: Maria Allard | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published December 20, 2022
EASTPOINTE — The memory of William F. Webb continues to live on in Eastpointe Community Schools.
Webb, a 1971 East Detroit High School graduate, was killed in a car crash in 1972, just one year after he graduated.
After his death, his parents, William and Jean Webb, created the William F. Webb Memorial Scholarship Fund, which for the last 50 years has provided scholarships to graduating seniors in the district.
William Webb was a counselor at East Detroit High School, while Jean Webb taught elementary school in the district. The scholarships have been in amounts between $500 and $1,500 per year. East Detroit High School is now Eastpointe High School.
During a brief ceremony held Dec. 9 at Eastpointe High School, Webb’s sister, Kathy Loftus, presented a commemorative book that highlights each of the scholarship recipients from the last 50 years. The hardcover book includes photos of each graduate and information about their college and career choices. Webb’s photo is on the book’s front cover.
Inside the media center, Loftus presented the book to Eastpointe High School Principal Asenath Jones and guidance counselor Howard Weiner, who coordinates the high school’s in-house scholarship programs. Several other staff members were in attendance, as was Eastpointe Community Schools Board of Education member Mary Hall-Rayford and Loftus’ husband, John Loftus.
“On behalf of the Eastpointe community, our board member who is here with us, our central office staff and all of our staff here, we appreciate this in memory of your brother and your family. We appreciate all that you’ve done for this community for the last 50 years,” Jones said. “We appreciate this loving token. We’ll put it out for our students to see how we’ve gone from 1972 all the way to 2022-2023.”
Loftus, who graduated in 1974, believes her older brother “would be so honored” by the book. She recalled the crash that took her older brother’s life and how the scholarship fund was created.
“It was a rainy night. He was out with a buddy. His buddy lost control of the car and (hit) a telephone pole. It kind of changes your life,” Loftus said. “Billy was not an A student. He was blind in one eye. He was a B, C student, and he was an aficionado of the marching band. My brother had just graduated and was looking forward to going to classes at Macomb.”
After the funeral, the Webb family received a stack of sympathy cards that contained gifts of money. Not sure what to do with the money at first, it was eventually utilized to create the William F. Webb Memorial Scholarship. Loftus recognized all those who have played a role in selecting the scholarship students every year.
“The work that you do here is phenomenal,” she said. “You not only created the application forms for the in-house scholarships, but you distribute the forms for the in-house scholarships, you encourage the students to actually fill the forms out and you painstakingly read them.”
Former district staff member George Saboonjian, who has been very involved in the scholarship program, said a few words on behalf of the Loftus family.
“One of the nice things that the Loftus Family has done is, once the recipient is acknowledged, they take the family out for dinner so they can get to know them on a personal basis,” Saboonjian said. “They’ve always been impressed with the quality of our graduates.”