Wade H. and Annie P. Stephenson Family Scholarship Endowment

Growing up during the height of the Great Depression on farms limited Wade H. and Annie P. Stephenson’s ability to get an advanced education, but they were determined to change that for their own four children.
After suffering a stroke, Wade Stephenson told his children he wanted to leave behind a scholarship fund at Johnston Community College.
“He was a real advocate for education,” said daughter Brenda Abbott. “This was a way to pay it forward, to provide young people with an opportunity for a higher education.”
Mrs. Abbott thinks he was inspired in part by the stories she told about the successes of her students in the business technology systems program at JCC and how their studies gave them a chance to really change their lives.
“I think that’s why he wanted his endowment to go there,” she said.
Mrs. Abbott said mother was the quieter partner in the family, but was a loving person who had a great impact on all who knew her. Wade Stephenson was “the flamboyant one; very active in the community and local politics. He was on the Johnston County School Board and chairman for at least eight years.”

Pictured left to right: Sue Moore (daughter of Wade H. and Annie P. Stephenson) , Christina Wall (scholarship recipient), and Brenda Abbott (daughter of Wade H. and Annie P. Stephenson)