James & Doris Sink

THE RAYMOND F. STOWERS SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT - An Investment in the Future

JAMES AND DORIS SINKS OF ROCKY GAP, VIRGINIA HAVE A PASSION FOR LIFE! They share a deep love for each other, for the United Methodist Church, for the memory of parents, and for the education of young people. The Sinks recently updated their estate plans to reflect their values and created two scholarships, one honoring Doris' mother, Ora Gray Stowers, at Radford University and other honoring Doris' father, Raymond F. Stowers in the Holston Conference Foundation.

The Sinks asked Roger Redding to visit and review how a scholarship could be created, managed, and stewarded. As a result, a scholarship endowment agreement was drafted, reviewed, approved and funded. THE RAYMOND F. STOWERS SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT will provide annual scholarships for United Methodist students with priority given to students from the Tazewell District with secondary consideration for other areas of Virginia within the Holston Conference. The scholarship is to be awarded to a student in good standing or approved to attend Emory & Henry College or to a seminary approved by the Holston Conference.

Raymond F. Stowers was born March 17, 1915 and passed away on March 25, 2001. He attended Concord College and the University of Virginia. He and Ora Gray married in 1944. He was quite a successful cattle farmer and also had a keen eye for land speculation. While he never completed his degree, he was deeply committed to quality education and served on the Bland County School Board for 24 years never missing a meeting. Doris was their only child and they saw to her proper upbringing and education. Mr. & Mrs. Stowers were very active members of Rocky Gap United Methodist Church, where he served on the trustees and she was the long-time treasurer. They blessed Doris and James with generosity and love and even provided a substantial gift to their church through their estate.

Both James and Doris are thankful for the love of their parents and their own opportunities to serve the community and the church. James was the son of a sharecropper and he directly benefitted from the generosity of others who provided scholarship support to finish his degree at Emory & Henry College. The Sinks never had children of their own, but hope this scholarship will leave a legacy of learning that will make a lasting difference for generations to come. As retired teachers and active leaders in the United Methodist Church at the local, district, and conference level, the Sinks hope that the students who receive aid from this fund will know that they have been blessed by people of faith and that someday they, too, may have their own opportunity to be a blessing to others. Even though the Sinks intend to add other funds through their estate plan, they wanted to establish this scholarship during their lifetime so that they could experience the joy of seeing it in action.

If you are interested in exploring the establishment of an endowment or scholarship to leave your own legacy, please contact the Foundation.