Four recent Bradford High School graduates have won LeRoy G. Erickson Memorial Scholarships for 2025.

Emma Benson will attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania as an early childhood education major, Joseph Caruso will be an accounting major at St. Bonaventure University, Marcus Griffin chose Penn State DuBois to study veterinary and biomedicine science, and Ava Peterson will be a film and television major at Fordham University in New York City.

Established in 1960 by a Bradford banker for graduating seniors of Bradford Area High School, the four-year scholarships can also be sought for vocational 1-, 2-, or 3-year programs. Erickson himself graduated from Bradford High School in 1930 and from the University of Pittsburgh in 1934. He worked in Bradford National Bank on Main Street (now PNC Bank) from his graduation until he died at the age of 50 as a vice president. He and his wife, Marcia Parkhurst Erickson Lorch, had no children and his estate provided for promising young local students to seek further education. Over just the last 32 years, Erickson’s trust, administered by PNC Bank, has generated more than $1,540,000 dollars, for an average annual disbursement of about $40,000.

These students can re-apply each year until the completion of their undergraduate college program. In the past several years, the average payment to each newly applying or re-applying student has been about $3,500.

The selection committee encourages Bradford Area High School seniors to consider applying for an Erickson scholarship, one of the most generous that is available locally. Information about the LeRoy G. Erickson Memorial Scholarship is available in the high school counselor office and also on the Scholarship America website.