Judith Crum establishes scholarship at CCC to help non-traditional students achieve a better life for themselves and their families. Courtesy photo.
FLAGSTAFF — Flagstaff resident Judith Crum knows first-hand how a college education can open doors.
“Education is important, and to many, it’s not affordable without help,” Crum said.
So, she put her money where her mouth is. Not only is she a board member of the Coconino Community College Foundation, she recently established the Crum Family Scholarship at CCC to help CCC students afford an education.
“I felt very strongly about helping out the community college and the students who go there,” Crum said. “I was raised to believe education was important. It was important in my life.”
Her educational journey wasn’t secure when she was young. Her father passed away when she was 14 years old.
“There wasn’t any money for me to go to college,” Crum said, adding that were it not for scholarships she received, she wouldn’t have been able to afford her college education.
Her initial goal was to become an English teacher so she could make money in the world before continuing her ultimate goal of becoming an attorney. She got sidetracked in the 1960s by wanting to see the world. She became an airline “stewardess.” They weren’t called “flight attendants” back then. She loved it so much that she ended up doing it for seven years before marrying an airline pilot.
Crum raised three children before she decided to go back to college at the age of 38 to realize her dream of becoming an attorney.
And she did just that. She set up her own shop – first in Atlanta, then in Utah. Although her law practice included both criminal and civil work, she ended up specializing in Real Estate law.
“When I moved down here to Arizona, I retired,” she said, laughing. “I didn’t want to take the bar exam again.”
The Crum Family Scholarship offers two $1,000 scholarships to CCC students for the fall and spring semesters. Qualifying students must be considered “non-traditional” students 25 or older, with a 2.0 GPA, who are returning to school to improve their current career or beginning a new career that will “lead to a better life for themselves and their family.”
All three of Crum’s children went to college. And in May, three of her grandchildren graduated from college at the same time.
Her decision to help fund a scholarship was apparent.
“I can think of nothing better I can do,” she said.
For more information about scholarships offered through the CCC Foundation, visit www.coconino.edu/foundation.