Lester/Wahl Family Scholarship (SW6331)

Eligibility:

• Be an undergraduate or graduate student with a major in geography
• Be enrolled full-time
• Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher for undergraduate students OR have a GPA of 3.5 or higher for graduate students
• Write a 500-word essay discussing either: demonstration of your community volunteerism OR your goal toward an element of geography

The Lester Family Geography Scholarship honors the James and Ingeborg Lester family. The scholarship also honors Angelika Lester-Wahl for her accomplishments mentoring Texas State students. James (Jim) E. Lester was born and lived as a youth in a small town in Indiana. Ingeborg Lester was born and lived in Bavaria, Germany. Jim was in the United States Army and stationed in Baumholder, Germany, where he met the love of his life, Ingeborg who was caring for her two infants (Angelika and her brother, Georg) as a single parent. They were married in September 1970 in Germany and, after Jim’s twenty years of military service, now live a quiet life in Harker Heights, Texas.

This scholarship also honors Irene L. Wahl’s love of geography, continuous support of persons succeeding in academics and her philosophy that it is better to stumble along toward the right decision, than to run straightforward toward the wrong one. Her son Richard graduated from the Southwest Texas Teacher’s College with a master’s degree in Mathematics and married Janie Scheel. Richard and Janie had three children, Sheri, Max, and Rodney.