Estate-Plan Gift Endows Scholarship and Creates Lasting Legacy at MSU

Since 2016, 25 MSU students majoring in education have benefited from the generosity of Rueben W. Keck. Mr. Keck attended Hardin Junior College in the late 1940s. Through his will, he left MSU a percentage of his estate when he passed away in 2014. The funds were used to establish the Rueben W. Keck Education Scholarship Endowment.

With more than 70 years passing between Mr. Keck’s days as a Hardin Junior College student and the establishment of the Keck Education Scholarship, this scholarship is especially meaningful—creating a lasting legacy for Mr. Keck and an opportunity for MSU students for years to come.

“The impact that this kind of scholarship has is substantial,” said Dr. Matthew Capps, dean of the MSU West College of Education. “School is expensive and certainly more expensive now than when Mr. Keck was a student at Hardin Junior College. Any support our students can get from someone else defrays costs and increases the return on their investment.”

Born in Washburn, North Dakota, Mr. Keck enlisted in the Army Air Corp in 1940, trained as an aircraft mechanic, and was sent to Sheppard Air Force Base. While at SAFB, he met and married Helen M. Stoker. He left the Wichita Falls area for several years to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial education. He returned to work at SAFB in 1951 where he worked for Civil Service for 30 years in the aircraft maintenance field, retiring as a supervisory training specialist.