In 1988, Mr. Thayer, in his eighties, established the Thayer Family Fund in memory of his family. Following his death, he left a bequest to TSF in his will, requesting that the fund he had established be renamed for both him and his wife. For many years his family home had been on Chestnut Street at the site of what is now Temple Emmanuel . Mr. Thayer’s father who later became a Congressman for the Seventh District, serving during Calvin Coolidge’s presidency, owned the Thayer-Foss Leather Company. Wendell was a sergeant in the US Army during WW II and served in combat in Italy. Although the Thayers never had children, they had a great admiration for the work of TSF. It was their wish that the children of Wakefield have the opportunities they had. Mrs. Thayer died in 1988 and Mr. Thayer died in 1996.
Scholarship Recipients
2025
- Paige Dube — Springfield College
- Allison Forti — Saint Anselm College
- Madison Goc — Roger Williams University
- Jesse Guzman — University of Denmark
- Sofia Macaluso — Syracuse University
- Chase McCarthy — Endicott College
- Alexander Skeldon — Johns Hopkins University
- Kathy Tran — Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Philip Valley — Framingham State University
- Morgan Vieira — University Of New England
2024
- Skylar Forbes — Regis College
- Maeve Forrest — Merrimack College
- Brendan Jaena — Providence College
- Alexa Kelliher — University of New Hampshire
- Annie King — Wentworth Institute of Technology
- David LoCoco — University of New Hampshire
- Summer Milsky — University of Maryland – College Park
- Margaret Ritchie — Providence College
- Ava Sowyrda — Roger Williams University
- Grace Wallace — Providence College
2023
- Matthew Boudreau — Boston Architectural College
- Noah Brennan — University of Maine – Orono
- Paige Carlson — University of Massachusetts – Amherst
- James Christie — University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth
- Jonathan D'Ambrosio — University of Massachusetts – Lowell
- Nathan Delgado — University Of New England
- Benjamin Palmer — Roger Williams University
- Ryan Sallee — University of Vermont
- Cameron Sweeney — Suffolk University
- Sarah Williams — University of Massachusetts – Lowell