Maggie Webb: Scholarship in works to honor Moline native killed in shooting
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By Doug Schorpp | Tuesday, March 25, 2008 |
Friends of Maggie Webb, the Moline native who was shot to death in December at the Omaha, Neb., department store she managed, will host a fundraising event Saturday to honor her.
Their goal is to establish a Maggie Webb Scholarship Foundation to grant an annual scholarship in her name to a deserving Moline High School senior.
Not surprisingly, the donations and volunteers have been coming forward in droves.
“She was a great person. I guess we knew we had to do something to keep her memory alive. She did so much for us,” said Kelly (Melliere) Ryckeghem, who met Webb in high school and attended Illinois State University with her.
“It’s really hard for me to describe her in one or two sentences. She was a great friend, just a great person all around. She would help anyone. She was such a positive influence on so many people.”
Webb died Dec. 5 when a 19-year-old man shot 11 people inside the Von Maur store at Westroads Mall, killing eight and wounding three. Six of those slain were employees of the Davenport-based department store.
Webb was a 2001 graduate of Moline High School and a 2005 graduate of Illinois State. Her parents are Dave and Vicki Webb of Port Byron, Ill.
“A small group of us got together and we thought we should do something,” Ryckeghem said. “She had such an impact on our lives. We thought that although she is not with us any more, we wanted her life to still have an impact on others.”
So, starting this spring, she said the foundation board will award a scholarship each year to a Moline High School senior.
“We are still working out he details on how much and the requirements,” she said.
“Maggie was involved in a lot of sports, extracurricular activities, academic clubs. We are not sure what we are doing yet,” in terms of the criteria for the award.
Ryckeghem said volunteers include many from their 2001 high school graduating class, in addition to others who never knew Webb, but “were touched by her story.”
“She was such a bright light for many people,” Ryckeghem said. “She always had a smile on her face, had a laugh and would always say ‘Good times.’ She was always embracing the moment with family and friends.”
Because of that, Ryckeghem said organizers will be selling bracelets for $3 bearing the phrase “Good times.”
“That was part of her positive and outgoing nature. We thought that was a good way to keep Maggie with them,” Ryckeghem said.
If you go
A fundraiser for the Maggie Webb Scholarship Foundation will begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at The Clubhouse at Arbor Village,
890 43rd Ave., Moline, an assisted living center located behind Kohl’s and Target along John Deere Road in Moline. The Trivia Challenge begins at 4 p.m., but all tables are full.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase all evening and a silent auction will be held. There also will be a 50/50 raffle with most prizes being awarded about 9 p.m. For more information, contact Kelly Ryckeghem at
(309) 781-6275. Anyone not able to attend but still wanting to donate can do so at any Quad-City locations of the National Bank.
Doug Schorpp can be contacted at (563) 383-2292 or dschorpp@qctimes.com.
Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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