Starved Rock Country Community Foundation awards more than $43,000 in scholarships

The Starved Rock Country Community Foundation recently awarded more than $43,000 in scholarships and a new memorial award, according to a news release.

Norma Cotner and her daughter, Erin Stuedemann, presented the inaugural Robert Cotner Memorial Scholarship to Elisabeth “Ella” Kamke of Utica, a music major. Robert Cotner, of Seneca, was a retired English professor and nonprofit executive who died in November.

After introducing the scholarship in her late husband’s name, Cotner’s daughter spoke about the family’s connection to Kamke’s application.

“Her words reminded us so much of my dad’s generous spirit and warm heart for others – exactly the kind of legacy we hope to keep alive through this scholarship,” Stuedemann said in a news release.

Kamke also received the $5,000 Rising Star Scholarship, sponsored by Ethel McConnell, a longtime elementary school teacher from Ottawa and formerly of Seneca, the news release said.

In total, the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation awarded more than $43,000 in scholarships to 15 students.

Other recipients included:

• Lily Ann Keutzer, of Princeton, received the $10,000 Mac-Aero Scholarship for Aeronautics and Aviation. She is an aviation major at Indiana State University.
• Alex Jagers, of Princeton, received the $3,000 Carol and Dick Janko Scholarship for Promising Entrepreneurs. He is majoring in farm management at the University of Illinois.
• Lilliana Bernabei, of Marquette Academy, received a $2,500 Janko Scholarship. She plans to study agribusiness at Iowa State University.
• Palmer Phillis, of Streator High School, received a $1,500 Janko Scholarship. He will study genetics at Illinois College in Jacksonville.
• Tynan Justice, of Seneca, received a $1,500 Janko Scholarship and a $2,500 Advantech Internet of Things (IoT) Scholarship. He will study computer engineering at Iowa State.
• Valeria Villagomez, of Putnam County High School, received a $2,500 Advantech IoT Scholarship. She plans to study civil engineering at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
• Madelynn Guilinger, of Morris, received the $2,500 Charles H. Beckett Scholarship for Culinary Arts. She is studying culinary arts management at Joliet Junior College.
• Myah Burns, of Fieldcrest High School, received the $3,000 Robert J. Moore and Ellen G. Moore Scholarship. She attends Illinois Valley Community College and plans to become a chiropractor.
• Keaton Davis, of Marquette Academy, received the Thomas “Tucker” Tillman Scholarship. He plans to attend Spoon River College in Canton.
• Madeline Kerestes, of rural Oglesby and Ottawa High School, received a $3,000 Women Inspired Network (WIN) Young Women Leaders Scholarship. She will study political science and pre-law at Marquette University.
• Madilyn Knowles, of La Salle-Peru High School, also received a $3,000 WIN scholarship. A U.S. Army Reservist, she plans to attend the University of Iowa in 2026–27 to study pediatric oncology and become a physician assistant.
• Chesney Auter, of Ottawa and formerly of Earlville High School, received the $1,000 Molly Lenora Yacko Memorial Scholarship. She is majoring in sports psychology at Ball State University.
• Maya Zeman, of Ottawa, received the $1,220 Stephen Charles Vogler Memorial Scholarship for Electronics and Communications. She is a communications major at IVCC.
• Rachel Pinter, of La Salle and IVCC, received the $500 Streator Leading Ladies Maxine Wargo Working Women’s Scholarship. She plans to transfer to Aurora University to pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work.

“We had a record 84 students apply for scholarships,” Fran Brolley, SRCCF president and CEO said in a news release. “This is a highly selective field of winners.”

To create a scholarship through the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation, visit srccf.org, call Brolley at 815- 326-1945 or visit the office at 116 W. Lafayette St., Suite 2, in Ottawa.