Memorial Fund established for Peace Corps Volunteer Dee Hess who died of rabies in Kenya in 1983
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P'burg woman inspires fund
College roommate honors memory of Dee Hess with scholarship fund.
Sunday, April 13, 2003
By LINDA LISANTI The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG -- Jennifer Gasperini went back to Gettysburg College last summer for her 20th reunion.
She caught up with old friends who are now married and have children. She saw former teachers who left an impression.
She reminisced about the good times.
All the while, however, Gasperini felt someone wasn't there who should have been.
When she walked through her old dorm, it hit her. The void she had felt all day long was the absence of her college roommate, Dee Hess, who died suddenly only a year after graduation.
The Phillipsburg woman contracted rabies in 1983 while serving in the Peace Corps in Kenya. A rabid puppy that had been given to her as a gift bit Hess playfully. Within a week, she was dead.
It was a crushing blow to all who knew her.
"A total shock," recalled Gasperini, who now lives in Minnesota. "Dee was somebody who was going to make a difference in the world. All of us were left asking, 'why did she have to be taken?'"
At that moment, standing in their old dorm, where she and Hess met as freshmen and shared so many new experiences, Gasperini vowed to create a lasting memory to her deceased friend.
In speaking with other friends and their alma mater, they decided to start a scholarship to be awarded each year in Hess' memory.
The first Dee Hess Memorial Scholarship will be bestowed next year, Gasperini said.
Although only 5-feet-2 and 100 pounds, friends say Hess always stood out in a crowd. She had long strawberry-blond hair and big blue eyes. Her striking looks were matched by a striking personality. She just exuded life.
While attending Gettysburg, Hess balanced a social life and her school studies admirably. She demonstrated a sense of purpose, pushing herself and friends to make a difference in the world.
Hess had her sights set on working for the World Bank soon after college. She got her feet wet in the international arena with a semester-long internship in Washington, D.C. Hess' two years with the Peace Corps was to be another stepping stone toward attaining her goal.
But her life was cut short too soon.
While Hess can no longer achieve her dreams of international success, friends and family want her vision to live on with this scholarship.
So far, $11,000 has been donated. A total of $25,000 is needed to formally establish the fund, which would then last a lifetime with interest, according to Jean Straub, development director for the college of about 2,400 students.
The Dee Hess Memorial Scholarship will be a $1,000 award given each year to a student who is studying with the college's Center for Public Service. The program sends students overseas to experience other cultures, Straub explained.
During the break between the fall and spring semesters, the center organizes service learning trips. Some are to American Indian reservations, others are overseas. In all, the focus is for the students to work to better these communities.
Students pay for these trips themselves. The cost is usually about $1,000. Straub said there is always someone who wants to go, but can't pay.
The Hess scholarship would go to them.
While the Center for Public Service was not established while Hess was still alive, Gasperini said its purpose is what Hess lived for.
"Dee's interest was in global issues, so it's fitting that her scholarship will go to someone following in her footsteps," she said.
Gasperini said Dee would be thrilled to know that her vision for a better world will live on.
"She really wanted to have an impact on the world. Now, she can have one even in death." To donate to the Dee Hess Scholarship Fund contact Jennifer Straub at 717-337-6489 or go online to gettysburg.edu/onlinegiving.
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kenya; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Infectious Diisease; Rabies
