Keohane Funeral Home

Weymouth Student Wins McDonald Keohane Funeral Home Scholarship

May 15, 2017

A Weymouth High School senior, Victoria Nash, was the recipient of the 2017 McDonald Keohane Funeral Home Scholarship through the Town of Weymouth Scholarship Fund. Her willingness to help others made her a stand-out candidate in the annual application process.

“I really like helping people – it really just fills my heart with joy,” said Victoria.

Victoria received her scholarship on Monday, May 22 at the Abigail Adams School during the annual Weymouth Town Meeting.

The Weymouth Scholarship Fund was established in 1989 to aid Weymouth residents who plan to pursue post-secondary education. Recipients may be graduating high school seniors, current college students and adults returning to college for retraining or to pursue graduate degrees. Scholarship Funding is made possible by voluntary contributions from taxpayers; civic organizations; corporate sponsors and others. Scholarship awards are presented at Annual Town Meeting in May.

Individuals, businesses or organizations may set up a permanent or one-time Scholarship. “We have been offering a $1,000 scholarship for the last four years to the Weymouth Scholarship Fund,” said Co-president Dennis Keohane. “The Award Selection Committee reviews the applicants and awards our scholarship to a deserving student.”

Any resident of Weymouth pursuing education beyond high school at a college or institution deemed accredited by the scholarship committee is eligible to apply. Each applicant is assigned a number and the applicant’s identification is removed from the application when it is received. A selection committee scores the anonymous applications based on scholastic record, community or school involvement, character and financial need. The applicant’s identity is unknown to the Award Selection Committee until the scoring of all applications is completed and the winners chosen.

Victoria’s has been playing the clarinet for eight years, and one of her many volunteer opportunities includes playing the clarinet in the Satuit Band in Scituate during their free summer concerts. “When I look up and see some of the people in the audience smiling, it makes me happy,” said Victoria.

The Satuit Band will perform more than a dozen weekly concerts this summer at several locations including St. Mary’s Parish Hall in Scituate, Scituate Harbor, Rockland Public Library, Glastonbury Abbey, and the Bernie King DCR Pavillion in Hull. The band will also participate in Hingham’s annual Fireworks Celebration in Hingham Harbor and Hingham’s Independence Day parade.

Victoria recently finished her season on the robotics team from her school. The team reached new heights this year and went to the World competition in St. Louis for the first time. She has been on the team for four years.

Victoria was born and raised in Weymouth, and her family has a long history in the town. “We had a music field trip to Ellis Island and you could look up where your ancestors are from. Mine came to Weymouth in 1880, so, we’ve been in Weymouth since then.”

Her older brother, Ryan Nash, attends the University of California in Northridge. Victoria will be staying a bit closer to home. In the fall, Victoria will be attending Holy Cross College in Worcester as a pre-med student. When asked why she was interested in pre-med, Victoria said, “I like helping people. I feel like that is what I was meant to do when I was put on this earth. I just love helping people, and I feel like being a doctor and fixing people up is the best thing to do.”