Monroeville widow sets up scholarship fund to honor husband

When her husband of 29 years died of natural causes last year, Susan Delaney wanted William C. Delaney’s name to live on through a scholarship for young minorities aspiring to be entrepreneurs.

Delaney, 68, bought billboard space along the William Penn Highway near the Monroeville Mall advertising the scholarship. She hopes the visibility leads to donations to set it up.

“We’re hoping to raise $50,000,” she said. “The scholarship will be for more than one student. Maybe we’ll give five people $5,000 or more. Or 10 people $5,000.”

In the coming years, she hopes the William C. and Susan A. Delaney Scholarship Fund becomes endowed.

William Delaney, of Monroeville, died in December at age 99. He owned Delaney Motors Inc. in Glenshaw before he sold it in the 1980s, Susan Delaney said.

“William Delaney was not afforded the educational and financial opportunities available today,” Susan Delaney wrote in a news release. She said her husband was one of the first African Americans in the Pittsburgh area to own a car dealership.

“That’s something I want to see carried on so others he’s always encouraged can come behind him and see that it’s possible to further your career or business. I want this to be a vehicle,” she said.

She hopes the first scholarship will be awarded to high school seniors next fall, around her husband’s birthday, Sept. 12.

According to the scholarship’s website, the financial reward will be given to either high school seniors or current college or university students. That student must have maintained a minimum GPA of 2.5, plan to enroll or already be enrolled in a full-time undergraduate study in Pennsylvania and be a person of color.

For additional details, visit DelaneyScholarship.org.

Dillon Carr is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Dillon at 412-871-2325, dcarr@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dillonswriting.