FIRST TOBIN LAIN ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT TO BE NAMED SATURDAY
(KINGSVILLE, February 26, 1997) -- A.L. Lain Jr., father of former Texas A&M University-Kingsville student and rodeo club member Tobin Kasch Lain, will make a $250 cash donation Saturday evening, March 1, to a deserving rodeo team member in memory of his son.
The presentation will be made during a National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) competition, dedicated to the memory of Lain, which will be held at J.K. Northway Exposition Center, Kingsville. The recipient will be announced at that time. Also scheduled to be present is Lain's sister, Stephanie Lain Correia, and her family.
Meanwhile, Lain's parents Cheryl Lain Koen and A.L. Lain Jr. of Austin, have established the Tobin Lain Endowed Scholarship Fund to ensure that the memory of their son will live on.
They will award a $250 scholarship annually to a full-time A&M-Kingsville junior or senior in financial need who is an active member of the A&M-Kingsville Rodeo Club until the endowment grows to a figure that can support the scholarship. The recipient must be under 30 and will be chosen on the recommendation of A&M-Kingsville faculty and/or a Rodeo Club faculty advisor.
"He loved the ranch life -- he loved horses and cattle," Lain Jr. said. "We wanted to do something to perpetuate that part of him that he loved so much."
Lain, a senior animal science major at A&M-Kingsville, died unexpectedly July 13, 1996, at the age of 24. He was a member of the Rodeo Club, competing in NIRA competitions as a team roper, and was active in the Aggie Club. Lain also worked part-time at the university farm.
Rodeo Team Faculty Advisor Dr. Terry Peek described Lain as a quiet, dedicated student who was popular with fellow team members.
"Tobin Lain was a very hard working person who stayed behind the scenes and never was interested in being in the limelight. But when you asked him to do something you could always know that it would be done," Peek said. "He was just a wonderful person to be around and to work with."
For additional information call (512) 593-3712.
-TAMUK-
- Mary McAdam