Ed and Celia Franklin Endowed Scholarship for Nursing

This endowment is being established in memory of Wiley Edward ,md Celia Rhode Franklin, grandparents of Judy Rowe Koehl, to provide financial assistance to selected students. Wiley Edward Franklin was born on November 2, 1878 in Wilson County, TX and died on January 3, 1939 in Floresville, TX Throughout his 60 years of life he was known as Ed Franklin but often fondly referred to by many in the local Floresville community as “Mr. Ed”. He was a cattle rancher, banker, and for a time served as the Wilson County treasurer. Celia Rhode Franklin, born on May 10, 1878, was the youngest child in a family which had migrated lo the Shiloh Community of Lavaca County, Texas from Mississippi before the Civil War. On June 16, 1902 Ed Franklin married Ms. Celia Rhode, who is said to have been a teacher. During their 15 years of marriage, Ed and Celia had two daughters before Celia died at 39 years f age. Both Ed and Celia died far too early of diseases which could not he stopped in the first half of the 20th century. Both would have benefited from medical advances made since then, including advances made in nursing care.

Michael Frank and Judy Rowe Koehl both grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and moved to Huntsville when he became the pathologist at Huntsville Memorial Hospital. While neither Mike nor Judy was educated at SHSU, they have been encouraged by the university’s recent dedication to the education of health care and population health professionals. With a large student population of first generation college students predominately from rural communities, such a profession is an opportunity to prepare the next generation to fill the gap in health care services in our local community, the state and the nation. With an accredited School of Nursing at Sam Houston, Mike and Judy hope their scholarship will encourage excellence in preparation among students who plan to enter the field of nursing, as well as to help to defray a little of the cost of that preparation.