Nearly a year after their son Matthew’s death, Stillwater, Okla., residents Larry and Kelly Wilkerson hope his memory will live on through an Oklahoma State University scholarship.

Matthew Wilkerson, who passed away at 18 in a mobile home fire on Dec. 23, 2007, was a fun-loving, adventurous and caring person, according to his parents. He enjoyed agriculture and always thought of others, whether that meant donating blood or participating in mission trips.

“Matthew was always trying to help people,” Kelly Wilkerson said.

Now a scholarship fund established in his memory will help students from Stillwater High School attend OSU.

The Matthew Wilkerson Memorial Scholarship Fund will award $1,000 annually to a graduating senior at Stillwater High School who is enrolled as a full-time student in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at OSU with an interest in animal science or horticulture. The recipient must be actively involved in Future Farmers of America and must have a high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

“We created the scholarship to keep his memory alive and since he loved ag, it just seemed like a good way to go,” Larry Wilkerson said.

Matthew would have attended Northern Oklahoma College after graduating from Stillwater High School in May 2008 with plans to later transfer to OSU. 

The Wilkersons hope to award the first scholarship in May and welcome additional donations to the scholarship fund from anyone who would like to memorialize their son.

“After Matthew’s death, we got a tremendous outpour of support from the Stillwater community, and we really appreciate it,” Kelly Wilkerson said. “We aren’t doing this to ask for more money, we’re just doing it to honor our son.”

For more information about donating to the Matthew Wilkerson Memorial Scholarship Fund, contact Kathy McNally at (405) 744-7964 or kmcnally@OSUgiving.com.

Top of page ^