The Richard Miles Decker Memorial Scholarship Funds was founded soon after cancer ended Rich’s life in 1983. The scholarship was established by the Decker family because of its appreciation of how Rich’s experiences at Falcon Camp as a camper in the 1960s and a counselor in the early 1970s contributed in such a meaningful and important way to his growth and development as a person.
The Decker family felt that a scholarship endowment providing tuition assistance to children who might not otherwise be able to attend would serve as an appropriate, living memorial to Rich, and a tribute to the happy days that he enjoyed at Falcon Camp.
The scholarship program is administered by a volunteer board of trustees, all of whom are former Falcon campers or counselors. They maintain longtime affiliations with Falcon Camp, and are devoted to the program’s development and success.
Assets of the Decker Scholarship Funds are used only to provide scholarships for these deserving children, and are not utilized for the camp’s capital expenses or ordinary operations. Contributions are invested in a balanced portfolio of mutual funds. The current endowment has enabled the Decker Funds to award nearly 100 scholarships since 1985, each to a child whom the trustees felt would benefit and grow from the Falcon Experience.
Current trustees of the Decker Funds are:
R. Bruce Buzza ’70
Terri “Tree” Eaborn ’74
Fred M. Fargotstein ’73
Emeriti trustees of the Decker Funds are:
Steven B. Shechter ’59
Jon C. Volkwein ’66
Charles A. Beringer ’66