Deceased alumnus leaves $250,000 for scholarships
North High students have the chance to go to college tuition free
October 2, 2015
If you are a North High student and plan on going to college in your future and want a way to pay for tuition, listen up, this might be your chance. Imagine go- ing to Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa or University of Iowa with free tuition. It might sound too good to be true, but thanks to a man named Jerry M. Torrence, college-bound North High students could have this reality.
Torrence has left $250,000 to North High School for this exact purpose. Tor- rence was an 80-year-old man who passed away on June 19, 2015. Torrence was an only child growing up; he was born in St. Charles, Iowa. At the age of five, Jerry moved to Des Moines, he attended Harding Middle School and graduated from North High School in 1953, he then went to the University of Iowa. He lived most of his life in New York City.
Dr. Cheryl Modlin, vice principal of North, got into contact with Kevin Mc- Grath while showing her respects at Tor- rence’s memorial services. McGrath is a close friend and attorney of Torrence. He left a portion of his money to North High because he didn’t have a family to inherit it and he loved North High so much. His wife passed away before him and they didn’t have children. He decided to help students because education is important. Torrence was inspired to help others, he wanted to help those who were unable to go to college.
Torrence used his money very wisely, after his passing; his money was donated to his church, North High School, Univer- sity of Iowa, among others. North plans to invest the money and create scholarships with the money earned from those investments and online with resources like bitcoin decode and many others.
He spent his life as a rug salesman. He was the vice president of the company Re- gal Rugs. Friends describe Torrence as an “outgoing; a people person.” They called him the “Talking Man” because he always had something to say.
Although Torrence graduated 54 years ago, he is even more important now be- cause he is helping students have the chance of going to college.
The qualifications are still being decided, but three have been confirmed: 1) maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, 2) attend one of the Regent Universities (ISU, University of Iowa, or UNI) and 3) it covers tuition only. Depending on investment profits, these scholarships might be available this year or in the coming years.