Mary Kate Brennan and Will Morgan
Two Lake Highlands High School seniors —Mary Kate Brennan and Will Morgan — received the Melinda Lee Scholarship Awards for future Texas Tech students, presented by the parents of the late Melinda Lee, Don and Patsy.
“Mary Kate Brennan,” the Lees say, “is an honor graduate, a member of the National Honor Society, The Student Council, and the Spanish Club. She has been the captain of the softball team and has received all district honors. She has been actively involved in volunteer work at St Patrick Catholic Church and plans to major in Business and Spanish and aspires to work in international business. Her parents are Tim and Leslie Brennan, both Texas Tech graduates.”
“Will Morgan,” they add, “is a member of the National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Young Life and Richardson Youth Leadership. He has been a pitcher on the Varsity Baseball team. A member of Park Cities Baptist Church, has participated in several youth mission trips including one to Guatemala. [Will is also a cancer survivor, who we wrote about when he was in seventh grade.] He received the Exchange Club Unsung Hero Award. He plans to major in Construction Engineering at Texas Tech and his goal is to own a construction company. His parents are Sam and Renee Long and John Morgan.”
For example:
Kelsey Kidd was a 2001 LHHS graduate and a Texas Tech student who studied journalism and loved Aerosmith, Steel Magnolias and horseback riding. In the summer of 2005 she died in a car crash. Ten years later, her friends still leave notes on the wall of a memorial website. (“Kelsey, I miss you so much. Our reunion was not the same without you!” “Kelsey, I watched Steel Magnolias today and thought about you!” Kelsey, they remade Steel Magnolias. The Horror!”) She also is immortalized through the Kelsey Kidd Memorial Scholarship for LHHS students entering Tech.
John Stallings was an outstanding choir member, track athlete and scholar at Lake Highlands High School in the 1980s. The Texas A&M student died in a 1986 car accident. His parents established a memorial scholarship that to date has paid $65,000 to LHHS students who demonstrate musical talent and leadership abilities.
In 1996, a speeding police car crashed into and killed LHHS students Katie Finley and Megan Jones. Accident reports showed Katie was at fault, information that made nothing easier for the devastated family and friends of the popular and active teens. Through the Lake Highlands Wildcat Club, the Katie Finley Scholarship offers thousands of dollars toward college tuition each year to one LHHS student.
Mike Oglesby was a longtime member and past president of the Lake Highlands Exchange Club. He and wife Jeanenne started a scholarship in memory of their son, Jason, who accidentally drowned in a swimming pool. After Mike died in 2013 from Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Jeanenne added a scholarship to commemorate her husband.
The 1st Lt. Jeffrey Titus Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of LHHS graduate Jeffrey Johnson who was killed in a car wreck.
Susan Kane provides an award in memory of her husband Jeff Kane, former principal of Forest Meadow Junior High.
As for the Lees, they offer one of the most prolific annual memorial scholarships in memory of Melinda, who was killed by a drunk driver in 1993. Read her story here.
