The John K. Stiles ’11 Memorial President’s Endowed Scholarship, established by Frank Stiles ’77, will recruit and recognize students that embody his son John’s commitment to academic excellence.
For John Stiles ’11, the opportunity to attend Texas A&M University was a dream come true. Although doctors discovered his leukemia shortly after he graduated from high school, John would not let his diagnosis interfere with his goals. Instead, his perseverance to pursue an education while fighting cancer embodied the Aggie Spirit and inspired others around him. John passed away during his time at Texas A&M after a 20-month-long battle, but a gift made in his honor will carry on his legacy.
In the wake of John’s passing, his father Frank Stiles ’77 made the decision to establish a scholarship in his memory. A veterinarian from Leander, Texas, Frank passed his passion for Texas A&M down to his son. Now he wants to share that spirit with others by creating the John K. Stiles ’11 Memorial President’s Endowed Scholarship. Through Frank’s commitment of $100,000, the scholarship will recruit and recognize students with high academic achievement without regard to financial need.
“John was so happy to have the opportunity to be there at Texas A&M,” Stiles said. “We want to pass on that joy he had so that someone else will have the opportunity to be there.”
After graduating from Liberty Hill High School where he played football and was on the wildlife judging team, John attended community college for two years in the midst of his battle with leukemia. Receiving admission to Texas A&M was one of his life’s biggest thrills.
John planned to get a master’s degree in business administration before attending law school to become a real estate lawyer. He was so committed to this path that when he was hospitalized for pneumonia while at Texas A&M, his schoolwork was his top concern. As it began to look like he wouldn’t be leaving a hospital bed for a while, John asked his father to look into options for taking a leave of absence.
John Stiles ’11, who passed away in the aftermath of a battle of leukemia, was thrilled at the opportunity to attend Texas A&M University.
“He was sitting there in the hospital in intensive care, and he was like, ‘Dad you know I can’t drop out, and I can’t take an F. Can you see what you can do?’” Frank said.
Frank was put into contact with Pam Vernon, a senior adviser in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who arranged for John to be pulled from enrollment with a full tuition refund and automatic admittance for whenever he could return. John was ecstatic.
“I told him, and he just got this big grin on his face,” Frank said. “He was smiling and said, ‘That’s why we love being Aggies dad.’ That’s one of the last things he said to me that night.”
The next morning, Frank got a call from the hospital saying that John had taken a turn for the worse. He returned to the hospital and was with John until he passed away that afternoon. Hearing this news, Vernon told Frank she was re-enrolling John so that he would be honored at Silver Taps and Muster.
This gesture was one of many that inspired Frank to give back. After attending Silver Taps and answering “Here” at Muster for John, he wanted to thank his alma mater for paying such a tribute to his son.
“Texas A&M was good to me, very good to me,” Frank said. “When John started, I was a little concerned that the school had gotten so large they would become impersonal and not be the Texas A&M that I had known, but that wasn’t the case.”
Although John was not able to finish his degree at Texas A&M, Frank Stiles’ gift will carry on the legacy of his son and his commitment to education by benefitting others.
Texas A&M Foundation
The Texas A&M Foundation is a nonprofit organization that solicits and manages investments in academics and leadership programs to enhance Texas A&M’s capability to be among the best universities.
