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By Chris Brown

David Jon Thomson Scholarship

Redcliff Scholarship Fund grows to four

Jan 19, 2021 | 3:16 PM

REDCLIFF, AB – A new scholarship for Redcliff students continues the legacy of former resident David Jon Thomson.

A lifelong friend of Thomson’s says the scholarship established by the family is a fitting tribute to a man who never forgot where he came from and was an ardent supporter of higher learning.

“He’s a person that respected his origins, his roots and worked hard to improve himself,” Gerry Berkhold said via Zoom from Calgary. “Education was a big part of that and he would choose to support his origins, his time in Redcliff.”

The David Jon Thomson Scholarship provides $5,000 for a young person in Redcliff toward post-secondary education.

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Thomson was born in Medicine Hat in 1939 and grew up in the Redcliff and Medicine Hat communities. He passed away in February 2020.

Berkhold, also a member of the Redcliff Scholarship Fund, said he set a great example for young people to follow.

“I think it was his personal experience that it was his education that got him probably his first job,” said Berkhold. “He did some work for the government, he then went for an MBA at Western (University in Ontario) and he thoroughly enjoyed that experience and made lifelong friends at Western, did well and then he had, because he was a very driven individual, he had a great business career.”

After starting at the Dominion Glass factory in Redcliff as a teenager, Thomson’s career had a stint as the director of the Prairie Desk in the Prime Minister’s Office followed by time in commercial real estate and managing a portfolio of U.S. commercial mortgages.

His daughter Kristin said the scholarship checks the boxes of what was important to her father.

“My father was an ardent supporter of higher education,” she said in a release. “The establishment of this $5,000 scholarship is the perfect way for our family to honour his legacy, recognize our family roots which are strongly connected to the Redcliff community, and continue to support his lifelong passion for learning.”

The scholarship is the fourth for the Redcliff Scholarship Fund, joining the Original Fund, Four Friends Fund and Frank King Tribute scholarships.

Berkhold says 39 scholarships have been awarded by the Redcliff Scholarship Fund over the years.

The following descriptions are from Prairie Rose School Division.

The Redcliff Scholarship for Advanced Education Original Fund was launched at the reunion of the Redcliff 1944 Grade 1 class held in September 2002. The aim was to create an endowed scholarship fund, whereby interest and dividends from the invested principal would earn enough money to finance the annual scholarship. To date, contributions to the fund total $242,690.

The Four Friends Fund scholarship was established in 2006 in memory of the value of the lifelong Redcliff friendships of Jack Fairhurst, Ron Hodges, John Hudak and Gerald Berkhold. The scholarship has been endowed with contributions of $232,975.

The Frank King Tribute Scholarship was established in 2018 in memory of Frank King. King was a well-known Calgary businessman. Frank’s formative years were in Redcliff. He was known for his passion of sports and his work as chair of the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games. As a legacy of Frank Walter King, his family and friends established the Frank King Tribute Scholarship to be awarded alongside the other two Redcliff Scholarships for Advanced Education. To date, contributions totaling $30,500 have been received in support of this scholarship.