Reginald Sanger & Florence MacGowan Memorial Scholarship

Established in memory of Mr. Sanger and Mrs. MacGowan who were brother and sister who retired to the Elk Lake area.  The scholarship is for an Elk Lake senior, who is enrolled in a post-secondary degree program.

Mid-November to Mid-March

Reginald Sanger and Florence MacGowen

Born before the start of World War I, brother and sister Reginald Sanger and Florence (Sanger) MacGowan came of age during the Great Depression in New York City. Although Reginald was unable to graduate from high school due to the financial needs of his family, he found work as a cabin boy for the Cunard Shipping Line. His work took him around the world, including Iceland and India. Florence was able to graduate from high school, but quickly found office work for pennies an hour to help support her family, which soon included her husband, Richard MacGowan.

Reginald and Richard served in World War II, while Florence volunteered to serve in the Civil Defense, monitoring the Atlantic coastline for enemy activity.

After the war ended, they established homes in the Northeast, always embracing the community around them. Reginald became a chief purser for Cunard and married Unie (Varcoe) Sanger, with whom he established a home in New Jersey before eventually moving to Pennsylvania.

Florence and her husband moved to upstate New York, where Richard became a police officer. By the early 1990’s, both siblings were widowed, and had retired to Elk Lake, PA. Although both were originally city folks, Reginald and Florence came to view the community they found in rural Pennsylvania as home. They appreciated the work of people who served this county in the medical, educational, and humanitarian fields.

Florence established this fund because she wanted to recognize the qualities of citizenship and service that she found in so many people in her adopted community. It is hoped that whoever earns these scholarships will take those values with them, wherever the may go after graduation.