For 35 years, Dr. Vince Rossi was a respected and admired dentist in Hayden, Idaho. When he passed away in 2011, his colleagues decided to award a scholarship that would serve as a memorial. The first one was to be awarded in his name.
Idaho Panhandle Dental Society established an endowment to provide these memorial scholarships to benefit North Idaho residents pursuing post-secondary education in the field of dentistry or dental hygiene. One of the founders, Dr. John M. Ukich, says that in future years the scholarship will be awarded in memory of other dentists who have passed away. This will connect their legacy to the next generation of dental students.
Dr. Ukich explains, “Rather than establishing our own nonprofit organization, we were able to work with Innovia Foundation to create a self-sustaining scholarship that serves as a memorial for our passing dentists in perpetuity. The fund provides a simple, tax-deductible way for people to make a gift in memory of someone to support scholarships in the dental profession. We just think that’s a really great idea.”
