The Octavio S. Romero and Piedad H. de Romero Scholarship

Octavio G. Romero grew up in Tampico, Mexico, the son of Octavio S. and Piedad H. de Romero.  As a young man, Octavio worked in his father’s business with the idea that he would some day take over the business.  However, after his parents encouraged him to go to Texas to study, he found a real interest in the sciences, specifically chemistry.  It is because of his parent’s strong encouragement to pursue further education and their strong support that he has chosen to start this scholarship fund in their honor.

From Texas, Octavio ended up going to Hiwassee College in Madisonville, TN and there met a chemistry professor by the name of Harold D. Miller.  Harold was a Goshen College graduate and suggested to Octavio that he might want to study chemistry at his Alma Mater with Professor Glen R. Miller.  One call from Harold to the Goshen College dean, Carl Kreider, was all it took for Octavio to be accepted.  Octavio then started his study at Goshen College in the fall of 1948.

After arriving in the fall of 1948 and getting to know some of the students, he was so impressed with the student body at Goshen College that he has asked that this scholarship fund also be a tribute to the GC student body of the years 1948 – 1950.  To quote Octavio, “I would like to stress the impact the Goshen student body had on me when I was in Goshen.  I heard no cursing, there were no fights, there was no stealing – in short, there was no breaking of the rules.  Never had I seen anything like that in any of the other schools I had attended. Pita heard my impressions of Goshen and she was also very impressed. Then, during the first year of our marriage, we went to Ohio State University where she met Louise Thomas Cullar and Harold Cullar, both Goshen College classmates of mine from the GC Class of ’52.  They befriended her and made a very strong impression on her with their kindness and friendship.”

Since Octavio was a student at Goshen College from 1948 to 1950 and since it was through the encouragement of his parents that Octavio was studying for a college degree in the U.S., when Octavio and Pita were considering their charitable estate planning, they agreed they wanted to assist future generations of students to be able to afford the high quality, unique educational experience offered at Goshen College.  It is for these reasons that Pita and Octavio wish to honor his parents with this scholarship at Goshen College.