College Friendship Ended Too Soon, but Scholarship Continues to Change Lives

Lisa Ford '82 always knew she wanted to do something special to remember her college friend, and when she earned a sales bonus a few years ago she immediately made the decision to name a scholarship in Shaun O’Brien’s memory.

“Education is my passion, and since I knew Shaun during my CSU days, it just seemed like the right thing to do.” Lisa met Shaun during her sophomore year at a very tough time in her life. Lisa was 19 years old and had just lost her father in a car accident. “Shaun was very impactful on me during a very crucial time in my life; he was so good to me.”

Lisa always enjoyed hanging out with guys better than girls, and so it was fitting that she gravitated to Shaun in a college dominated by females. Both Lisa and Shaun earned their degrees from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. “We had an immediate, major connection. We were study buddies. He had a very lackadaisical personality, and he didn’t seem to care about his grades. I made him study and made sure he completed his school work. But he was also very deep and introspective. He helped me understand myself better, and coached me with my boyfriends. I was never good at choosing boyfriends,” Lisa jokes.

Following graduation, Shaun joined the Peace Corps and moved to the Philippines. Twenty five years ago, on a cold winter morning Lisa recalls a vivid dream she had about Shaun. He indicated he missed her and that he was disappointed that she hadn’t written to him. The next morning she wrote a letter detailing their conversation and her worry for him. Shaun never received the letter. The letter traveled all the way to the Philippines and was returned to his mother in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Months later, Lisa read in a CSU newsletter that Shaun had been killed in a bicycle accident. The very next day after reading the tragic news, Shaun’s mother called Lisa and told her she had been trying to reach her. In their conversation, Lisa learned that Shaun lay in a coma the very night of her dream. “I thought it so profound that he would visit me of all people while he was in his coma. Now looking back, I really think it was that dream that motivated me to start the scholarship. It’s all been very synchronistic.”

A few years ago, Lisa came into some money and thought “I want to do something good with this.” She started the Shaun O’Brien Memorial Scholarship which awards two scholarships every year. Lisa’s hope is to endow the scholarship within the next ten years. “I really enjoy getting letters from the recipients each year. Last year’s letter was amazing. The recipient had gone online to research Shaun’s life. It was very touching.” Applicants to the Shaun O’Brien scholarship are required to write an essay, and Lisa appreciates this part of the criteria as well. “It’s important to me. “ Lisa herself received a scholarship while attending CSU. She was the recipient of the Florence R. Shepardson Scholarship. “I think the award was $250 or maybe $500, and at the time, that really helped.”

Lisa believes Shaun would have gone on to work with kids, probably as a youth counselor. “He was never driven to make money. He wouldn’t have wanted the complications that come with money.” Lisa is a regional development officer who trains financial advisors at one of the world’s leading financial institutions. Lisa studied infancy and child development at CSU, yet later in life discovered a passion for working with high schoolers. Lisa volunteers at local high schools in collaboration with Junior Achievement teaching students on topics such as ethics and success skills. She attributes her passion for education to her father, who grew up in the slums of Philadelphia, and overcame much to attend Temple University on scholarship. “My dad was big on education, and I am too.”

Lisa’s story is unique and inspiring in many ways, especially since she is one of the youngest people to start a scholarship in the College. Lisa originally wished for her name not to be mentioned as the scholarship donor. “I didn’t want to diminish the gift by including my name. I want to make sure it’s not about me, but about Shaun.” But Lisa considered that maybe it would help others to give as well. “Maybe others will say, ‘if she can do it in her mid forties, I can do it too.’ ”

This article was originally published in the Fall 2008 College of Applied Human Sciences magazine "Inspirations."

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Contact:  Kim Winger
Telephone:  970.491.2797
Email:  Kim.Winger@colostate.edu