Bill Stroecker Foundation Scholarships and Support Funds

Purpose: To provide financial assistance for accounting students.

Scholarship: $13,000 annually; to award to the same student up to three years

Criteria: GPA 2.0; full-time student; sophomore to senior standing; ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ resident; prefer Fairbanks North Star Borough student

Purpose: To provide scholarships to students majoring in programs within the College of Business and Security Management. 

Scholarship: $1,000 annually; to award up to five students

Criteria: GPA 2.25; part-time or full-time student; any class standing; CBSM major

Purpose: To provide scholarships for journalism students. 

Scholarship: $2,000 annually; multiple students may be awarded.

Criteria: GPA 2.0; full-time student; any class standing; journalism major

Purpose: To provide student and program support for the music program, with preference for horn instruction and students.

Purpose: To provide financial assistance for students within the music program, with preference for students studying a brass instrument.

Scholarship: $13,000 annually

Criteria: GPA 2.0; full-time student; sophomore to senior class standing; music major; ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ resident; prefer Fairbanks North Star Borough student; prefer brass instrument

Purpose: To provide student and program support for the Community and Technical College.

Purpose: To provide support for all shooting sports at the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Fairbanks. Help with rifle team logistics and efforts while making funds available to support future pistol teams and biathlon teams representing the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Fairbanks.

 

Purpose: To provide financial assistance for students enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program for up to two years.

Scholarship: Full ride

Criteria: GPA 3.0; full-time student; graduate class standing; MBA enrolled; ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ resident; prefer Fairbanks North Star Borough student

Purpose: To provide financial assistance for two students majoring in petroleum engineering.

Scholarship: Full ride

Criteria: GPA 2.0; full-time student; sophomore to senior standing; petroleum engineering major; ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ resident; prefer Fairbanks North Star Borough student

Bill Stroecker

In the outdoor gear at Bill Stroecker’s estate sale was a pair of Athabascan-style moccasins. With a double sole of smoke-tanned moosehide and heavy canvas uppers, they had ample room for not only his big feet but also the insulation needed at 50 degrees below zero.

This was ideal footwear for a favorite activity — snowshoeing to one of his remote cabins in the middle of winter. Stroecker’s other passion was his community. For most of his 90 years, he worked behind the scenes for Fairbanks groups and institutions, including the university. When he died in 2010, he generously left substantial funds to the Bill Stroecker Foundation, which will benefit a wide variety of organizations.

Stroecker’s father, Ed, came to Fairbanks in 1904, just two years after the town’s founding as a supply post for miners. Ed married Mattie Creamer, whose father founded Creamer’s Dairy. Bill was born in 1920.

In 1938, Stroecker attended New Mexico Military Institute for two years before returning and finishing up a business degree at the University of ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ. During World War II, Stroecker served in the Army in ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ and Canada.

He then went to work for the First National Bank of Fairbanks, where his father had worked up from teller to president. Stroecker himself became president in 1967.

He married Eleanor Wagner in 1957, bringing five stepchildren into his family.

After KeyBank bought First National in 1978, Stroecker continued as a vice president in his ground floor office at the corner of First Avenue and Cushman Street. He held the position until his death.

Stroecker served for decades on the boards of the local Salvation Army and the ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Goldpanners baseball team. During all this time, he played trumpet in local bands.

Stroecker walked to work every day. At 77, he retraced his grandfather’s gold rush-era steps across the Chilkoot Pass trail.

Ashley Plys   I have received the Bill Stroecker Accounting Scholarship for two years, and it continues to inspire me to find new experiences at ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ. I have discovered many outlets to network with professionals, workshop my career development, collaborate with peers and take on leadership roles in student organizations. My favorite part is finding ways to support and connect with my community, whether inviting professionals to speak with students or chairing committees for events like the ÓÐÁϺÐ×ÓÊÓƵ Business Leader of the Year banquet. All of my opportunities are strengthened by the relationships I have made with community members, professionals and peers, which would not be possible without the support of this scholarship. I am excited to graduate and find my place to support the Fairbanks community. Thank you to the Bill Stroecker Foundation for being part of my journey!    

— Ashley Plys, College of Business and Security Management student