Dr. Harry Keig always held a place in his heart for his Meigs County hometown of Middleport, even when he lived nearly 1,000 miles away in Omaha, Neb. He always remembered the impact his teachers had had on his life – none more significantly than Forrest Bachtel, a longtime teacher and coach at Middleport High School. Dr. Keig wanted to find a way to honor Coach Bachtel’s legacy in the community and to help future generations of students pursue their education.
When Dr. Keig died in 2003, he left a gift of $500,000 in his will to start an endowment at the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio to continue Coach Bachtel’s legacy of serving students through a scholarship.
The Bachtel Scholarships recognize both academic achievement and athletic excellence with awards to one young man and one young woman in each category. In its earliest days, the Bachtel Scholarship Fund awarded four students a one-year scholarship of $2,500 each.
But over time, the endowment has grown to allow multi-year scholarship awards. Now, four students receive a $7,500 award to be used for up to three years of postsecondary education. The goal is to see the scholarship awards grow to support four years of school – and thanks to Dr. Keig’s generosity and the power of endowment, the fund is well on its way.