Emerson and Laura Pelton

The University of Findlay has received a $1.9 million bequest from the estate of Emerson and Laura Pelton to endow student scholarships.

The scholarships are for residents of Ohio who have excellent academic credentials and demonstrate financial need.

In 1993, the Peltons established the Pelton Scholarship Endowment Fund with a gift of stock. In 1995, they contributed their 120-acre farm near Bloomdale, Ohio, to The University of Findlay in exchange for a charitable remainder annuity trust, which provided income to them for the rest of their lives and helped supplement their living expenses.

Upon their deaths, the remainder of their estate was to go into the endowment fund they had established earlier. “We both feel very comfortable with what we have done, and are quite proud that we will be helping a number of people be more successful than they would have been otherwise,” the Peltons stated when they established the scholarship endowment in the early 1990s.

The Pelton Scholarship Endowment Fund will be the largest endowed scholarship fund of the University.

Dr. DeBow Freed, president of The University of Findlay, noted that the generous spirit reflected by the Peltons is most admirable and the scholarships provided by the fund that they have established will be a living memorial to them.

“These scholarships will help many, many deserving University of Findlay students in the future,” he said.

Emerson Pelton and Laura Myers grew up in Bloomdale. After attending Bowling Green State University, where he studied agricultural development and she majored in home economics, they grew crops and raised cattle on a farm near Bloomdale. It was a joint effort, as documented by photos of Laura driving the tractor and helping with other farm chores. They lived the hard work and frugality of farm life. Both had a lifelong love of horses, and they belonged for many years to the Buckeye Horse Club in Findlay.

They cattle ranched for five years in Osage County near Bartlesville, Okla., and returned to farming in Ohio. Emerson also worked at Ohio Producers Livestock in Findlay and was in charge of the cattle department.

Emerson believed in leaving the land improved and earned county and state agricultural awards, including the Goodyear Award for outstanding achievements in soil conservation and wildlife management.

Later, they lived in Findlay, where Laura worked at the Alice Dress and Beauty Shop, a women’s dress shop located downtown.

After retiring, they traveled extensively and had a condominium in Bradenton, Fla. They relocated in 1985 to Green Valley, Ariz., where the climate was more beneficial for Laura’s health. They moved to a retirement village in Tucson, Ariz., in 1995. They had been married 62 years when Emerson died Feb. 27, 1999. Laura passed away July 5, 2009.

Emerson loved the land. He was a successful farmer and a shrewd businessman. He was a person who was interested in doing things well, according to the Emersons’ niece, Rebecca Babcock of Findlay. He was the type of person who pitched in to do whatever needed to be done.

Friends from Green Valley noted that he was a leader in the Madera Vista subdivision and told how he took it upon himself to cut weeds in empty lots, trimmed trees and participated in landscaping and cleanup projects.

Another friend said Emerson was “a man of unwavering standards of integrity who could be meticulous about doing things right.” Emerson also was known for his sense of humor, keen wit and teasing manner. He was self-assured, maintained a positive outlook and dressed with care and style.

Both enjoyed basketball. Emerson played basketball at Bloomdale High School where his team won a regional championship, and Laura was especially a fan of the University of Arizona basketball team.      

She cooked, sewed clothes and costumes, played the organ for church, was an avid birdwatcher and was an accomplished amateur artist as demonstrated by her paintings and drawings. She especially enjoyed nature — wildlife, birds and flowers.

Laura was a positive, upbeat person who enjoyed life, embraced each day and never complained, according to Charlie Shepard, campaign director and former director of development, who visited her many times in her Arizona home.