A decade in, the Elmer and Adolph Pletsch Scholarship continues to inspire the future of agriculture

As the end of the school year comes and goes for local students, many graduates find themselves applying for scholarship after scholarship, sometimes with little knowledge behind how the scholarship even came about.

Many memorial scholarships are formed through trusts and are left behind with the intent to improve the lives of students and give back to the community.

This overarching idea is what led to the creation of the Elmer and Adolph Pletsch Scholarship, which has been offered yearly to Putnam County High School graduates with an interest in agriculture since the scholarships inception in 2012.

This year’s recipients include Linzee Fay, Will Griffith and Jaidin Trone.

Since the scholarship began, it has awarded more than $1.2 million to Putnam County graduates. In 2021, more than $180,000 in scholarships were presented to local students looking to go into agricultural programs at two-year and four-year institutions. The 2021 money was distributed among nine recipients.

Applicants do not have to be graduating seniors. They could be choosing to pursue higher education later in their lives and looking for some assistance.

“It’s pretty overwhelming when you can give those checks to parents,” scholarship administrator Gayle Reno said. “I mean, sometimes there’s tears.”

The scholarship allows students to reapply all four years of their educational journey with a chance to receive funds each time around.

Elmer Pletsch died in 2007 and Adolph Pletsch died in 2009, but their contributions to local agriculture continue to live on through their generosity.

“They wanted no recognition and no acknowledgement,” Reno said. “But they were very much into agriculture.”

The Pletsch brothers were farmers from Putnam County who chose to live simple lives. The brothers lived and farmed on their parents’ former homestead and never married.

As the brothers grew older, Elmer needed knee surgery, which led to them buying a home in town – something the two had never experienced before.

“It was a bit of an adjustment, but they really came around,” Reno said. “We ended up getting 24-hour care for them just to keep the house orderly and so they had meals.”

The care allowed the brothers to enjoy the later part of their lives and opened them up to many new things that for the most part they had lived without.

When the brothers passed away, their estate was sizable and many organizations in the area benefitted from their contributions. The organizations included banks, churches, American Legions and more.

“Money didn’t mean much to them,” Reno said. “They would rather let somebody else have it. That’s just how they always were.”

What the brothers earned in their lifetimes has now spent more than a decade creating opportunities for those who might not have it otherwise.