By Staff
special to The Star
May 24, 2003
David M. Ray has received the first Buster Pool Memorial Scholarship, awarded earlier this month by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
Ray graduated from Meridian High School Friday with a grade point average of 4.16 and scored 25 on the ACT and 1100 on the SAT. He plans to attend Birmingham-Southern College in the fall.
This scholarship was established to perpetuate the memory of Buster Pool.
Pool was a native of Meridian and a graduate of Meridian High School and Tulane University, where he earned a full, four-year scholarship.
At the time of his death, Pool was senior surety underwriter with Frontier Insurance Company in Nashville, Tenn. Before that, Pool was with F.W. Williams Agency/USF&G in Meridian for 26 years.
A close friend of Pool's once said of him, "Buster is the type friend that, if you walk into a room and are faced with a choice of five individuals to speak with, you go to him, because you know you will come away laughing."
Pool died unexpectedly in April 1999 of a heart attack, when he was only 56.
As a lasting legacy to Pool's memory, his widow, Babs Weaver Pool, along with many friends and family members, created a scholarship in his name.
The scholarship will benefit graduating seniors of his alma mater, Meridian High School. Eligible applicants should have a grade point average of 2.5 or higher and demonstrate financial need.
In case of applicants of equal merit, Babs Pool has asked that special consideration go to golfers, because her late husband had a passion for the game. In fact, he achieved an astounding seven holes-in-one in his lifetime.
Applications for this endowed scholarship will be accepted each year, beginning in February.
For information on how to apply, visit www.cfmt.org or call Laundrea Lewis toll-free at The Community Foundation, (888) 540-5200.