Eleven West Orange High School seniors received funds this year from the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship, in memory of the former West Orange police officer.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — Last month, the legacy of former West Orange police officer Timothy Groves continued in a meaningful way: For the third straight year, the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship was awarded to a group of deserving West Orange High School seniors. The scholarship, which is part of the West Orange Scholarship Fund, was established in 2014 by Donald and Lisa Shauger in memory of Groves, a close friend of the Shaugers who died in 2013.
This year’s Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship was awarded to 11 recipients: Tynae Adkins, Romina Amedrano, Justin Davis, Dylan Fequiere, Iveth Gonzales, Jendaya McNeill, Chelsea Morales, Melanie Pacheco, Janiya Peters, Linda Porcayo and Jane Wagner.
As is done each spring, the WOSF distributed the scholarships at West Orange High School’s annual Senior Awards Night. To be eligible for a WOSF scholarship, seniors must submit a written application; the criteria for each individual scholarship varies, but, in general, winners are chosen based on financial necessity, academic record, extracurricular involvement and dedication to community service.
Over the course of this past year, The Shauger Group and Shauger family raised more than $25,000 for the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship. The majority of those funds came from the second Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser on Oct. 12, 2016. The Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship received 100 percent of the proceeds from the fundraiser event, which had been sponsored by TSG, the West Orange PBA Local 25, the West Orange Firefighters Association FMBA Local 28 and the West Orange SOA Local 228, in conjunction with the WOSF.
Each year, Lisa Shauger, president and CEO of TSG, and Donald Shauger, executive vice president of TSG, also make various contributions to the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship; for example, they donate to the fund whenever a West Orange resident with whom they were close dies.
To date, in the three years the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship has been awarded, there have been a total of 16 scholarship recipients. The Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship is one of the largest scholarships managed by the WOSF.
“When we lost Timothy Groves to cancer in 2013, it affected the whole community of West Orange,” Lisa Shauger said. “Donald and I knew right away that we wanted to do something special to honor Timothy’s memory, and we came up with the idea of the scholarship. Even though he’s no longer here with us, he is still making a meaningful impact on the West Orange community and, in particular, its youth. We were lucky to have known Timothy during his lifetime.”
The Shaugers’ hope was that the students who eventually received the scholarship in Groves’ honor would exhibit many of the same qualities that had made Groves so beloved in West Orange. As a result, the Timothy Groves Memorial Scholarship is set aside for students who commit themselves to various charities, organizations, and volunteer opportunities. Future career plans in law enforcement or criminal justice are not expectations or requirements of the scholarship; however, it is particularly meaningful when recipients do happen to share Groves’ passion for law and justice.
“Every day of his life, Timothy Groves brightened the lives of others in West Orange,” Donald Shauger said. “It’s fitting that the scholarship is still allowing him to do that. It was our honor to create the scholarship in memory of someone whose legacy should never be forgotten.”
Also recognized at this year’s Senior Awards Night was Jimmy Tiernan, who is the son of James Tiernan, TSG’s operations manager of the landscape and cleaning divisions. Jimmy Tiernan, a 2016 graduate of West Orange High School, received the Dean Michael Clarizio Cancer Scholarship, after having bravely fought cancer and a host of related medical issues. Tiernan is now successfully free of cancer and will be able to attend college this coming fall.
This article was written by Alexandra Gakos.
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