Special Remarks

May 2018

The Ken Waldie Memorial Fund, Inc and it’s associates,           

I would like to sincerely thank everybody involved with this scholarship for selecting me as the recipient. It is an honor to be recognized in such a way and with such a generous award. I hope to see the two gentlemen who gave me my award at one of my football games at Carnegie Mellon University.

Thank You
Connor Wholey


June 2014

To Friends and Family of Ken Waldie                   

Thank you very much for the scholarship. It was a great surprise for me and for my father, as my mom decided to keep it a secret when she saw how close the Award Ceremony was to Father’s Day. It is likely the best Father’s Day gift I will be able to give him.

It was truly an honor to be selected. I’m sure the field of applicants was very large and was filled with exceptionally good people. Many of my friends submitted an application and wrote an essay, so I recognize how significant it was for me to be selected from all who applied.

I plan to honor Mr. Waldie by being an excellent student and engaged college undergraduate.

Gratefully
Dan Vater


19 Years
As the 19th Anniversary of 9/11 approaches,I would like to say that day changed my life forever..??..We had witnessed the most horrific act of terrorism in the USA…..TO MY FRIEND KEN WALDIE….Our fellow classmate Ken Waldie was on AA Flight 11….His plane was the first plane that hit the WTC…..A group of Kens friends decided to Honor him by doing something positive in his name….They created the Ken Waldie Memorial Scholarship at BPHS… With the help of all of you,The Ken Waldie Memorial Scholarship is the largest single scholarship awarded to BPHS student…The outpouring of love and everyone coming together since that horrific day to honor you Ken and the memories we all shared is priceless….I know Ken is smiling down on all of us…We will never forget you Ken..From my heart to yours……


10 year Anniversary

10 years ago 9-11 changed the lives of many people..more so with your High School buddies who love and miss you so much…All the negative things are turning into a positive…something they believe you would have wanted….As they would say…this is forukenny with love….


2008 Golf Outing Thank You

Golfers, sponsors and to all who donated their time and effort.  
We would like to extend to you our heartfelt appreciation for participating in the 7th Annual Ken Waldie Memorial Golf Outing. Everyone’s enthusiasms and commitment about being involved is truly humbling. We cannot thank you enough!

The generosity displayed year after year is super. The conscious effort by all to celebrate Kenny’s life, is the driving force that makes the outing a success. The challenge is to stay the course and keep Kenny’s name and memory in the present.

Until next time, May God bless you all. And as Abraham Lincoln said “The better part of one’s life consists of his Friendships”


September 11

September 11th 2008 marks the 7 year Anniversary of this American Tragedy..Please keep Kenny and his family along with all the 9-11 victims in your thoughts and prayers..


Thank You

Hi Everyone…I personally wanted to thank all of you who attended this years Ken Waldie Memorial Fundraiser…I do believe that this event was our biggest yet…It was so wonderful to see so many people from our class and other classes attend..All of the new faces that we have not seen in many many years….It was wonderful to see the class of 73 Basketball team starters there… And yes Billy Thompson did call me The Goddess all weekend….Seeing all of those guys together was very heartwarming….Rocky Reynolds even came…The tailgating party was great and I thank Scott Ward for pulling that together… And for Terry Crump who opened his house for all of us after the game…Pam Hall was soooo wonderful with all the raffle items she got….If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have made the money that we did for the Waldie Scholarship…Cheryl, Connie, Shelly, Sue, Mike, Bono, thank you for all your help…If I left anyone out..I’m sorry…please yell at me later….My mission this year is to get all of the swimmers together..for Kenny…Its our 35 reunion year, and we need to get as many classmates there as possible….Help me find people….As we wrap up another Fundraiser of wonderful memories..I hope to see all of you next year…Remember, contributions are excepted all year long, and dates will be posted on the forukenny.com website…. I’ll be emailing from time to time, just to bug everyone, and you please do the same….So for now, be safe and happy.. Kim Sylvis


2007 Golf Outing Letter

To all our golfers- A BIG thank you. Our 6th Annual Golf Outing is in the books, and because of our outstanding group of volunteers, golfers, hole sponsors and supporters, it is our most successful to date. To our volunteers and families, thank you, we could not do it without your help and support. To our golfers, you have our complete appreciation. To the out of town golfers who make the sacrifice of time and resources to join us for a day, thank you, it is a better outing with your company. To the golfers who also sponsor a hole-you are the backbone of our success. And to the entire Waldie Family, we cannot tell you how much it means to us to have you golf and attend the dinner. Thanks so much! Six years ago we set out to have a day to remember our friend. We put together a “mission statement” of what we wanted to do (and not do). Basically gather 64 people who had a history with one another. Who had been fortunate enough to have had Ken Waldie impact their lives. Bigger wasn’t better-the closeness of the group was the most important. It has been difficult, but at the end of the night, the Bartender came up to me and said “She really appreciated the opportunity to work the night. That the group of people were very nice and that she could tell the closeness in the room” I told her the history of the event and what it meant to all of us. At work the next day it struck me-she had seen what we set out to accomplish years earlier. All of you make that possible.


The Best for Last

Needed to think about this for awhile….How do you thank someone who has done so much….Bryan Rudolph (Pam Halls husband)….A wonderful man who has done so much for us…The Waldie Memorial Video, all of our labels and printing, our music…letting us use your equipment….A wonderful man with so much heart…That is what the Waldie Fundraiser is all about…Heart…. Steve,Terry and Frank…6 years ago you lost your best friend, and with your compassion to keep Kenny’s Memory Alive, you created the Waldie Memorial Fund…With all your hard work and dedication you are beginning to see that your dreams for the Foundation are coming true…I am honored to be part of something so wonderful, and as the years go on,I hope that every single one of you will experience the warmth that this day brings… Love, Kim Sylvis


A Special Letter

I am a long time swimming friend of the Waldie Family. I would LOVE to speak to Janie, Mary Louise,Gracie and or Jack if possible. I think about Kenny everyday, have American flags flying in my yard everyday and always wear my September 11th, 2001 shirts all the time!!!!!!! I would love to get in touch with the family. If possible would you please pass my phone number and email address on to them. Kenny has and will always have a special place in my heart!!!!! Sincerely yours, Carolyn Idler


2006 Ken Waldie Memorial Fundraiser

Many many thanks to all who attended the September 16th Fundraiser…..We had a GREAT turnout and it was a great celebration….


Thoughts and Comments

This page is for all who would like to add a special comment or thought..Please fill out the contact form to do this…


Letter from the 2006 Scholarship Recipient

Dear Friends and Family of the Ken Waldie Memorial Fund,

As the recipient of the 2006 Ken Waldie Memorial Scholarship,I would like to first thank all of you for the opportunity you have made possible with your Scholarship which I have chose to apply at the University of Pittsburgh. I have entered my freshman year majoring in biomedical engineering and linguistics.Six weeks into classes,I can already see the challenge that this choice of major will ask of me..However, I feel confident that I shall be able to meet this challenge and contribute greatly to results made in research within the bioengineering field alongside gaining an international perspective with my intense foreign language courses. I will update you as my years unfold and hope to make you proud as your most recent recipient of this prestigious and generous award.I appreciate, again, the opportunities that I have been fortunate enough to pursue and am confident that the aid this Award has brought will equate with it nothing short of success..
Sincerely,
Mark Meshanko
BPHS Class of 2006
Ken Waldie Memorial Recipient