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Edith Hertzog
A major factor in Edith Hertzog’s decision to create a Trustee Scholarship at Penn State Altoona was her desire to alleviate part of the financial burden that many students carry in pursuit of a college education. But her scholarship represents much more than tuition assistance.
The March Forth Trustee Scholarship, initiated by Hertzog and co-sponsored by her husband, Mark, and Penn State college roommate Patricia Lankes Gadbaw, is a testament to immeasurable strength and courage, a means of repayment to an institution that had provided opportunity, and a source of inspiration to countless individuals who have battled life’s worst crises and triumphed.
The name of the scholarship reflects “Edie” Hertzog’s sense of determination and positive outlook. On March 4, 1994, Hertzog received her final chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer. At the time, a friend pointed out that the date offered a wonderful message: “March Forth! Go forward with Hope-YES!!!!”
The selection of a scholarship benefiting Penn State Altoona also was an appropriate act of philanthropy for the Hertzogs. A 1972 Penn State graduate who later earned a Master’s Degree in Adult Education from the University, Edie was born and raised in Altoona and began her undergraduate work at Penn State Altoona. Mark is a Cambria County native. Both felt compelled to assist Penn State students from their home areas who need scholarships to continue their education. As a former scholarship recipient, Hertzog was well aware of the tremendous difference the assistance could make on the futures of young scholars.
“As a high school senior, I received a small scholarship that was managed by a local bank,” commented Hertzog. “I didn’t knowingly apply for it. I still don’t know how or why I got it, but without it, I could easily not have attended college.
“My mother died when I was 10, my father had just retired on disability from the railroad, and I had no idea of how I would pay for college. No one in my immediate family had ever gone to college. The scholarship gave me the push I needed to hope that college could really happen for me.”
The struggling economies in their home counties also factored into the Hertzogs’ decision on the selection of a gift to Penn State Altoona.
“Establishing this scholarship is a small payback to the area,” Hertzog said. “It is our hope that it gives area residents the opportunity to advance themselves by going to college, and that someday, they, too, will be motivated and able to pass the opportunity on to others.”
Edie and Mark Hertzog view the March Forth Trustee Scholarship as “an opportunity to pay back for blessings and encouragement received.”
“It is an opportunity to boost someone else’s hope that college can be real for them,” Hertzog emphasized. “It is an opportunity to encourage others that they, too, have the creativity to find ways to help others. And, it’s a way to remind everyone to March Forth to a future full of hope because they will also be encouraging others to have hope by what they say and do.”
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