Hard work and dedication are two values George Dewese believes in. He spent 22 years in the army and then worked for GE in electronic testing until his retirement. He comes from a hard-working family. Dewese says his father, N.B. Dewese, would walk three to five miles to work when work was scarce. "He believed in brute force," Dewese says. "If it was hard, he'd tackle it."
For close to six years, Dewese has rewarded RU and local high school students for their hard work and has been dedicated to helping them achieve their educational goals. In recognition of that dedication, he and his wife, Matsue, recently received the RU Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1997, they established an endowed scholarship to assist students from Montgomery County with preference to students from the former Shawsville (now Eastern Montgomery) High School and Auburn High School to attend RU. They wanted to provide local students with an opportunity to attend college -- an opportunity that Dewese didn't have. The couple then created a second scholarship to benefit students from Alleghany County and Covington High School. The idea was to help students who were able and wanted to attend RU but did not have the funds.
Dewese, a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, created the George Everett and Matsue Yamazaki Dewese Scottish Rite Graduate Fellowship Endowment to support the Communication Sciences and Disorders program and enhance the mission of the RU clinics. The Scottish Rite has a long history of helping RU's Communication Sciences and Disorders Department with scholarships and funding for a summer language clinic for children. Most recently, the couple established the George Everett Dewese and Matsue Yamazaki Dewese Charitable Trust through the Scottish Rite Foundation, Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, to provide Scottish Rite scholarships for members of the DeMolay and Rainbow Girls, Scottish Rite leadership programs, and for descendants of Scottish Rite Masons.
Now, the couple is giving the university close to 270 acres in Shawsville as a living laboratory for geology, geography and biology students. Dewese thought that donating the land was a great opportunity for it to be used without development. "My parents didn't want their portion of it to be developed so I think this is a fabulous way to use it -- for educational purposes," says Dewese.
Dewese picked RU for his generosity because he says he would have felt more comfortable going to college at a university like Radford with its family atmosphere and small class sizes. "I think most kids from a small community would like it better," explains Dewese.
Dedication to helping others and an incredible work ethic define Dewese. But also his modesty and kindness show through. "The main thing is trying to give students a chance that I never had. It will help them for years to come. The full impact of this hasn't dawned on me yet," adds Dewese. He has met most of the scholarship recipients he refers to as "good kids." "All in all," says Dewese, "if I can help one good one achieve, then it's worth it."
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