For this week’s ‘Hometown Hero’ we are honoring a local woman who dedicated her life to helping those in her community. It was evident in her professional life as a beloved fifth grade teacher and personally through her charitable work.
LaRue Dahlberg might be remembered most notably for the scholarship fund she set up 40 years ago in honor of her son Donnie after he was tragically killed in a car accident on Christmas Eve.
LaRue turned unimaginable pain into purpose—starting the scholarship and changing the lives of thousands of other kids.
LaRue recently passed away at the age of 95, but her daughter Susan shared fond memories of her mom and the lasting impact she had on everyone she met.
“There was one time in the Gardens Mall, we were walking around, and a police officer was following us very closely, and I finally turned around and said, ‘did we do something wrong, officer?’ and he said, no, but I think that was my wonderful fifth grade teacher,” Susan recalled.
Kind, thoughtful, well-liked and sacrificial. Those are just a few of the words Susan used to describe her mom.
Even in the wake of a tragedy, she used her grief for something good, the Don Dahlberg Memorial Scholarship fund.
“She loved teaching, so she wanted to give a scholarship to a student that was like my brother,” Susan explains. “So, it would be somebody at Jupiter High School that would get a scholarship for four years, and she wanted to keep my brother’s memory alive and honor him.”
Julie Lauderbaugh is the vice president for marketing and community engagement at the Community Foundation, she says LaRue started something very special for their organization.
“She inspired over 140 other individuals, businesses and organizations to open a fund themselves as well, and collectively, we’ve been able to give out about $18M in scholarship support since LaRue started the fund once upon a time,” Julie says.
The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties serves as a gateway between donors and local nonprofits.
Lauderbaugh says they are proud to have partnered with LaRue and to watch her legacy live on.
“What she started 40 years ago really has had ripple effects into the community, because it not only affects a student who receives the scholarship, but their families and their future families.”
Susan says her mom has received wonderful thank you letters over the years from all the scholarship recipients.”
“Both of my parents have been shown a lot of appreciation for starting the scholarship and I think that’s what kept them going and helped them heal,” Susan continued.
To date, 45 students have received the Dahlberg scholarship.
That’s worth about $77,000.
