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Mount Aloysius College received a $900,000 donation that will go toward nursing scholarships, according to a press release.
The late Veronica "Bernie" Kubica of Altoona named the college as a recipient of a $900,000 trust to be used for nursing scholarships. Kubica, who spent nearly two decades in the U.S. Air Force, died on July 10.
"She felt very strongly about the field of nursing, and my understanding is that she wanted to leave a legacy at a small, private college with a strong nursing program," John Farkas, vice president of institutional advancement at Mount Aloysius College, said in the release.
According to her obituary in the Mirror, she graduated from the nursing program at Philipsburg State Hospital in 1951.
After working as a registered nurse in several local hospitals, she and one of her colleagues joined the U.S. Air Force under the buddy system. She was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force Reserve in late 1955 and had numerous assignments before retiring in 1976.
The funds provided by Kubica will go toward the scholarships for "decades to come," according to the release.
"Receiving this gift was a wonderful surprise, and our students will benefit tremendously from it," college President John McKeegan said in the release. "A majority of our students are first-generation college students, and over 98 percent of our current students receive some sort of financial aid. To have an endowment such as this, that will continue to assist our students well into the future, allows our students to focus on becoming fantastic nurses. Our community can't thank Ms. Kubica enough for providing this opportunity for our nursing students."