T. Scott Wideman Endowed Scholarship

“The dreams of what our son could have been have been broken, but if we can focus our efforts on making the dreams of others and help them to cope more easily with life, then something good can come out of this tragedy.”

On September 8, 1984, T. Scott Wideman and three other youth were killed by a drinking driver as they participated in a hayride with the youth groups of three Ontario Mennonite churches. For his parents and family, the hope that anything meaningful could result from this accident was unbelievable for a long time.

T. Scott was only 15 years old when he died. An ambitious and intelligent student, he had received the principal’s award in eighth grade, the mathematics award, was a class valedictorian and had enthusiastically mapped out his classes through grade 13. As a candidate for mock national party elections held by the students, T. Scott displayed his outgoing spont and social enthusiasm. He was also a keen snow and water skier. T. Scott enjoyed drama and played the lead role in “The Sound of Music” as Captain Von Trapp in the eighth grade.

Photography became a passion for T. Scott especially in the eight months before his death. “He would take pictures of everything,” recalls his mother, “the chandelier, the lawn, everything.”

A youth memorial fund was established at the time of the tragedy in memory of all four youth who died. Four photographs which were taken by T. Scott were printed as note cards, and the sale of “The Four Seasons Hasty Notes” became a major source of funding for an endowment which now awards money to a young accident victim in Ontario each year.

One of T. Scott’s goals was to study at Goshen College. The T. Scott Memorial Scholarship for Canadian students in memory of this fine young man is intended to encourage other young students from Canada who wish to attend CC.

Although T. Scott was never able to realize his dreams, it is the hope of his parents, James and Sharon Lee, brother Trevor and sisters Sherilee and Cindylee, that the recipients of this scholarship will take this opportunity to pursue theirs.