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Mother, Sisters Begin Scholarship At VGCC In Memory Of Otha Wilkins

August 27, 2003 | by VGCC Staff

In 1996, retired Granville County educator Otha Wilkins endowed a scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College in honor of his mother, Lucille Couch of Oxford.

In August, Mrs. Couch and her two daughters, Alice Harris of Florida and Ionia Ingram of Cary, established the Otha Wilkins Memorial Academic Achievement Scholarship at the college in memory of their son and brother, who died June 7.

Otha Wilkins was a 1954 graduate of Mary Potter High School in Oxford who went on to teach in the Granville County schools from October 1961 until his retirement in January 1989. He taught and coached basketball at the former Hawley High School and taught social studies and history at South Granville High School.

Mrs. Couch, 90, is also a retired teacher, as is Ms. Harris. “Our family believes in education, and we think this scholarship will be a fitting memorial to Otha,” said Mrs. Couch.

The family will donate a total of $6,000 to endow the Academic Achievement Scholarship. This will become part of the VGCC Endowment Fund and Scholarship Program, from which the interest is used each year to award more than 400 scholarships to deserving students. The first Otha Wilkins scholarship grant of $500 will be awarded this fall to a Granville County student.

Individuals, organizations or businesses interested in more information on starting a scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College may contact the president’s office at (252) 492-2061.

Lucille Couch, center, and her daughter, Alice Harris, present $3,000 to President Robert A. Miller of Vance-Granville Community College to establish the Otha Wilkins Memorial Academic Achievement Scholarship. Ionia Ingram, also Mrs. Couch’s daughter and Wilkins’ sister, joined in setting up the scholarship in memory of Wilkins, an Antioch community resident who died June 7. Mrs. Couch and her daughters pledged to complete the $6,000 gift to establish the scholarship in three years, and the first Otha Wilkins Memorial Scholarship grant of $500 will be awarded to a deserving Granville County student this fall.