Ralph and Luella Foulk Scholarship Fund

A southwestern Ohio couple, who combined diverse careers in railroad property protection and hospital and private duty nursing, provided for a scholarship fund at Goshen College before their deaths in 1985.

The resource, now available to Nursing Students, was set up by Ralph and Luella Foulk, formerly of DeGraff, Ohio. Established as a charitable gift annuity agreement, the fund became operatiorx upon their deaths and is called the Ralph and Luella Foulk Scholarship Fund.

Both Ralph and Luella lived full lives that they described as “interesting and rewarding.” Ralph worked for 25 years with the New York Central (flow Penn Central) security division, and Mrs. Foulk worked as a nurse for 44 years, including part-time hospital service and “specializing.”

While Ralph would be on police duty in Bellefontaine, Indianapolis or St. Louis, Luella would fill in at the hospital, working in any department, ward and on any shift.

Dedicated to the profession of nursing, she preferred no one part of the hospital or assignment to another. Her motivation stemmed, she said, from the meaning of a favorite Bible verse which impressed her as a young woman in high school in Sm1thville Ohio, and as a member of the Oak Grove Mennonite Church. The special verse is Matthew 25:40: “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Luella received her nurses’ training in the mid-1920s at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital before she was married. After graduation, she worked in its outpatient department four years.

She joined the GC faculty in 1922, becoming the school’s first college nurse. She worked one year, and in exchange for her services as a registered nurse, she received free tuition.

After retiring, the Foulks enjoyed a full life that included wintering in Florida and participating in Airstream rallies.  Ralph was an avid baseball fan arid Luella a needlework enthusiast.  They were both members of the DeGraff United Methodist Church.

Through the charitable gift annuity, the Foulks wished to help young persons. “We are happy that we will be able to help some Goshen College nursing students who require financial assistance,” Luella said.

J. Lawrence Burkholder, president of the College when the gift annuity was established, said, “Their action is as much a tribute to the College as to the enjoyment and satisfaction they have found in being of service to the needs of others.”