Scholarship created to honor legacy of Jacob Crabtree

January 18, 2022 | 12:07 am

Updated January 17, 2022 | 9:53 pm

When 19-year-old Jacob Crabtree passed away in a car accident in November, those who knew and loved Jacob reached out to his family to ask what they could do. His mom, Jessica Jones, said with Jacob being involved in so many parts of the community, the best way to honor him was to create something that would continue his legacy — and, like Jacob, serve others.

“With such a tragic death, it’s important to people to give to something,” Jones said.

The family met and created the JC38 scholarship that honors both Crabtree’s time at Daviess County High School and Brescia University, where Crabtree was a sophomore pursuing a degree to become a physical therapist while also playing baseball for the Bearcats.

The criteria for application are for a person to be pursuing a post-secondary degree and to be a high school senior or a current undergraduate student. 

Jones said that Crabtree attended college on an academic scholarship and while most of his expenses were covered, he still had some that were not. She said the reminder that even scholarship students still have a gap was behind their decision to create an opportunity for students.

“This is how his legacy can help,” Jones said. “It’s not limited to only Daviess County High School or Brescia University students, but ideally will be given to one high school and one college student [yearly].”

Since Crabtree remained in his hometown for college, he remained close to his DCHS family and friends while also being active in his college community. Jones said the family was unaware of several stories that mourners shared with them about Crabtree’s kindness and the impact he had on them.

These stories — showing Crabtree’s core values — are the essay prompts in the application. The first focuses on Crabtree’s kindness and determination and allows the applicant to share the core values of the individual. The applicant then can choose to write about someone who has made a lasting difference in their life, or their contribution to their community and what has been learned from that.

“We’re just happy to be able create this in his honor and to let him continue to make a difference in kids’ lives, so they can hopefully experience some of the great things he experienced here in college,” Jones said. 

The Jacob Crabtree Memorial Fund has been set up at the Daviess County Teacher’s Federal Credit Union where anyone can donate.

Application information can be found here and will close Feb. 28, 2022, for this year.

January 18, 2022 | 12:07 am

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