Bill and Diane Killilea

Bill and Diane Killilea

In June 2000, Bill Killilea lost his beloved wife, Diane, to cancer. Bill and the couple’s children wanted to find a significant way to honor her memory and her commitment to Catholic education—specifically, to Marian High School, where all seven of the Killilea children went to school. A scholarship fund with the Community Foundation turned out to be the perfect solution.

The Bill and Diane Killilea Memorial Scholarship Fund provides two annual scholarships to Marian High School sophomores during their junior and senior years. More than $20,000 has been distributed from the fund since 2004.

At first, the amount of each scholarship was $500. Over the years, though, Bill continued to build the fund diligently. His children got involved, too, as well as other members of the Killilea family and friends. Because of this ongoing attention, each Bill and Diane Killilea Memorial Scholarship now provides $1,000 of support for each recipient.

For Bill, this scholarship was much more than just a check. Until his death in the fall of 2019, he attended Marian’s annual scholarship awards ceremony, providing a personal congratulations to each of the young scholarship winners. His presence was a beautiful way of making the fund’s support even more meaningful to the recipients—and to the Killilea family, too.