Scholarships from the Mike Brown Jr. Memorial Golf Outing
were awarded to Crown Point
High School graduates Brian Murphy, Nicole Smoljan, Matthew Maloney,
Lauren Angel,
Allison Isailovich, Wendy Kurcz and (not pictured) Megan Reid. Pictured
with the
scholarship recipients are Ryan, Kendall, Kim and Mike Brown Sr.
An
emotional round
Friends,
family memorialize fallen Crown Point High grad through scholarship golf
outing
By JOHN BURBRIDGE, Times
Community Sports Editor
CROWN POINT -- Mike Brown
Sr. recently played an emotional round of golf.
His foursome consisted of
his 16-year-old son Ryan, and several family friends. But Brown couldn't
help but be reminded of the absence of a familiar playing partner.
"He was starting to get
the hang of golf," Brown said. "He was already a heck of a hitter."
Brown was referring to
his older son, Mike Jr., who died at the age of 18 in an automobile
accident last September. On July 13 at Pheasant Valley Country Club, the
Crown Point High School graduate's family and friends held the Mike Brown
Jr. Memorial Golf Outing in his honor.
Proceeds from the event
went to form scholarships for seven CPHS graduates.
"It's something Mike
would have wanted us to do," Brown said. "He was always active in the
community and he was involved in so many things, even at his age."
Mike Jr. was a criminal
justice major at Indiana University Northwest at the time of his death. He
was aspiring to become an FBI agent, and he was even preparing himself
outside the classroom to attain his goal.
He was a member of the
Crown Point Civil Defense and, showing his willingness to maintain order
amid sometimes hostile situations, he was the youngest baseball umpire in
District 1 and an IHSAA basketball official.
The recipients of the
scholarships were Brian Murphy, Megan Reid, Nicole Smoljan, Matthew
Maloney, Lauren Angel, Allison Isailovich and Wendy Kurcz. They formally
received their scholarships July 22 at Pheasant Valley.
"We had a committee
review the applicants and vote among themselves who should get them," Mike
Jr.'s mother Kim said of the $1,000 and $500 awards. "We (she and her
husband) didn't want to get involved in the selection process."
Mike and Kim Brown
decided to hold the outing in their son's honor in January, and credited
support from others for being able to pull it off.
"Our son knew so many
people, so a lot of people were willing to get involved," Kim said. "It
was tough in the weeks prior to the outing because it was coming up so
fast. But everything turned out great, and we're hoping to make this an
annual event."
Although the pain from
the tragedy remains -- as evidence by Kim fighting back tears before
awarding the scholarships -- Kim says that the venture has helped the
family cope.
"This has been very
therapeutic for us," she said.
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