Father Louis S. Garbacik Memorial Scholarship Fund is available for graduating seniors of the Hazleton Area and Marian Catholic high schools who will be attending public or private, two or four-year colleges, universities or technical schools.
Eligible students must have received an acceptance letter assuring their admission to the school of their choice to be eligible to apply. Students at either school must live within the geographical counties of the Hazleton Area school District, no exceptions.
The Garbacik Foundation also considers a student’s four-year grade-point average, class ranks, college and career choice, extracurricular activities in school and community, personal achievements and recommendation letters from principals, counselors, and professionals from the community. A student work history is a plus.
Among the most important factors include an essay requiring each student to tell “Who do I consider to be the greatest Pole/Pol-Am in History and why?” Each essay must be no more than 1,000 words.
The Father Louis Garbacik Memorial Scholarship was founded in 2011 following his accidental death. On De. 26, 2009, after serving Mass, Father was clearing snow from the front of St. Stanislaus Polish Catholic Church. In the course of clearing snow, so his parishioners would not fall on the snowy steps, Garbacik slipped and fell from the steps, left him landing on his head on the concrete sidewalk. He was taken to the local hospital, unconscious, where he dies Jan. 1, 2010.
In the months following, friends, parishioners and members of the Garbacik family decided that something should be done to remember him, and so all of the legal work was done to remember Father Lou and the scholarship foundation was born. This foundation was initiated and run by Thomas P. Kopetskie Sr. until his passing in July of 2024.
