The Blue Collar Scholarship honors the life & impact of Kent Quesenberry
Kent Quesenberry used to say, “You’re never too old to learn something new each day.” As a Master Plumber and Class B contractor, Kent could often be seen leaning on his shovel at a worksite. He would take the time to get to know everyone and pass along advice and encouragement.
“Dad was an awesome person and had a hello for every single person he met. He made it feel like you had known him your whole life,” said Billie, one of Kent’s daughters. “Dad was always a jokester, always laughing, and always had a twinkle in his eye.”
Understanding the power of scholarships
In addition to sharing his expertise on the job site, Kent’s values around gaining and sharing knowledge extended to higher education. His daughters Billie and her younger sister Jessie attended college at the same time. This got Kent and his wife, Joni, thinking about how they could eventually help other blue collar families navigate paying for college. Both of their daughters benefitted from scholarships.
“We’re a blue collar family and it’s very close to our hearts. We learned that being a second, third, and fourth year in college makes it much harder to get scholarships,” said Jessie. “We want to help families like ours by helping their kids go to college or further their education in whatever way.”
Eventually, Joni reached out to the CFNRV to gather information about setting up a scholarship fund. But life got busy, and the family shelved the idea for the time being. Years later, in 2021, Kent unexpectedly passed away. While his family was discussing how to honor his legacy, they revisited the idea of a scholarship. They wanted to support families like theirs. When they felt ready, they reached back out to the Foundation.
Setting up the scholarship fund
“Everyone at the Foundation made this a welcoming and supportive experience. The Blue Collar Scholarship would not be a reality without their help,” said Joni. “Learning all the rules and laws involved in setting up a scholarship would be overwhelming without their expertise and guidance. With the Foundation at our side, we now feel like the scholarship will continue to grow and be around for generations.”
Together with the CFNRV team, Joni, Billie, and Jessie worked out the parameters of the fund. It provides scholarships to students in the NRV from blue collar families. These students can be pursuing a degree at a 2 or 4-year college, university, trade, or technical school. Scholarship selection criteria include demonstrated financial need and a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Preference is given to students already in college.
The Quesenberry family feels supported by their community since Kent’s passing. Many individuals and businesses have donated to the scholarship fund. They also heard stories about Kent’s impact on those who knew him. They learned how many people he had gone out of his way to help over the course of his career.
Looking to the future
As Kent’s family reflects on the future, they hope that the scholarship comes to someone at the right time. They hope the scholarships help recipients do something – just like scholarships did for Billie and Jessie. All three women find comfort in knowing they are helping to continue Kent’s legacy of encouraging people along their path in life. They hope that receiving a scholarship from the fund inspires those students to one day help others in a similar position and that it continues to grow each year.
“It would be our greatest joy to know that Dad’s legacy will continue and enable others to continue their education,” said Billie.
Would you like to donate to
the Blue Collar Scholarship fund?
Please visit givelocalnrv.org/story/Bluecollar to make a contribution. Learn more about setting up a scholarship fund on this page. Have additional questions? Contact the CFNRV team at cfnrv@cfnrv.org or 540-381-8999.