JACK AND DOLORES HANSEN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

In 1986, Jack and Dolores Hansen became actively involved in reorganizing the Bensalem Alumni Association, which had previously disbanded. They started a golf outing to raise funds for scholarships for Bensalem graduates. Along with other members, they set a goal of earning $100,000 over 10 years. This goal was reached before the 10-year goal because of the efforts and hard work of Jack and Dolores Hansen.

Both have been inducted into the Bensalem Athletic Hall of Fame (Jack for basketball in 1968, and Dolores for field hockey in 1970). Both were outstanding athletes; and later became very active within the organization.

Jack graduated from Bensalem High School in 1947. He served for 10 years in the United States Naval Reserve. He worked for many years as a Facilities Manager for the Bensalem Township School District. He served on the Bensalem School Board for 10 years as well, serving as their President for much of that time. He was also President of the Bensalem Alumni Association for 15 years, putting in endless hours of work to compile the Alumni Directory listings for classes 1925-1995. Jack oversaw helping classes with reunions and finding lost classmates, along with sending out (by hand) the newsletter to classmates all over the world.

Helping Jack along the way as wife and assistant was Dolores Tilley Geiges Hansen, class of 1951. Dolores served the Bensalem Alumni Association as both Vice-President and Treasurer for numerous years, though not at the same time. Dolores was there every step of the way, calling classmates and hand-stapling newsletters.

The monies raised from Jack and Dolores’s hard work have been invested, enabling the Alumni Association to award scholarships for many years to come. Because of Jack and Dolores’s love and dedication to Bensalem, the Alumni Association voted unanimously in 2000 to name a scholarship in their honor. Jack Hansen passed away in April 2020. Dolores passed away in January 2023.

FLORENCE GERHART MULLER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Florence Gertrude Gerhart was a lifelong resident of Bensalem Township, born in 1911. She attended 12 years of schooling here; and graduated from BHS in 1929. As a sophomore, she equaled the world record in the 50-yard-dash. She attended Temple University and graduated in 1933 with a degree in health and physical education. In the 1950s, Florence returned to education, earning a Master’s degree from Temple in 1957 and becoming certified as a teacher.

In 1936, Florence married George Muller, a mechanical engineer for the Frankford Arsenal. By 1940, Florence was working as an investigator for the Philadelphia Department of Public Assistance. By 1950, she was a housewife, taking care of their young daughter.

At age 44, Florence started teaching at her alma mater in 1955. She would help at both the high school and Snyder Middle School, ending her tenure at the high school in 1973 and officially retiring in 1977.

Her years of coaching were a case study in dominance. As the girls varsity basketball coach, her teams were the undisputed team to beat from 1957-1961 in the Lower Bucks County League. She made girls track a reality at both the middle school and high school levels in Bensalem Township. As the girls varsity track coach for 18 years, her team hosted a mid-Atlantic track meet and won. She was also the middle school coach for field hockey, girls basketball, gymnastics, and girls track.

In 1958, Florence and her husband founded the Bensalem Belles and Beaux Square Dance Club. This organization held exhibitions, put on shows, danced on floats in parades, and performed all over Pennsylvania. For five years in a row, the club won blue ribbons at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.

In 1962, the Lower Bucks Lions Club awarded Florence their Citizen of the Year award. In 1969, she was inducted into the Bensalem Athletic Hall of Fame for her records in track when she was a student. In 1989, she was inducted again for her excellent record as a basketball coach. At that time, Florence Muller was the only person to be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame twice. She is now regarded as the first person to receive that distinction.

Florence loved her community, and was always on hand to help her fellow alumni and future graduates. She was part of the first alumni association before it was dissolved. When Jack and Dolores Hansen started the organization back up in 1986, Florence Muller proudly enlisted again. On June 10, 1993, the first Florence Gerhart Muller Scholarship was presented, having been named in her honor for her many years of dedicated service. On December 5, 1993, at the age of 82, Florence passed away and was buried in Bensalem at Rosedale Memorial Park.

CECELIA SNYDER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Cecelia Snyder was a lifelong resident of Bensalem Township, born on August 13, 1885. She attended Cornwells Grammar School and Temple High School in Philadelphia. Bensalem did not have a high school at that time, and Bensalem students were sent to neighboring towns for high school education.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Cecelia started teaching in Bensalem in 1905. Miss Snyder became a teaching principal in 1923 when Bensalem Township School District was founded, and while the high school was being built. Miss Snyder was officially named the principal of the high school in 1934, the first, and thus far, only woman to hold that position for longer than an interim basis.

Miss Snyder was also interim Superintendent, along with being the Principal, in 1941 when the first Superintendent, Samuel K. Faust, unexpectedly died from a stroke. Miss Snyder spent 46 years of untiring devotion to her students before retiring in 1951. She continued to reside in Bensalem in her family’s estate on State Road, always available to speak to students and offer words of encouragement.

During World War II, Miss Snyder served on the Bensalem Draft Board. Also, when Driver’s Ed was first introduced into the Bensalem Township School District curriculum, Miss Snyder was the first instructor.

For her outstanding achievement and faithful service to Bensalem, the Board of School Directors, in 1960, named the new middle school on Hulmeville Road the Cecelia Snyder Middle School.

Cecelia Snyder was also part of the very first alumni association of Bensalem High School. Periodically, she would present the scholarship named in her and Mr. Faust’s honor at the graduation ceremony. Miss Snyder passed away in May 1975 (three months shy of her 90^th birthday) and is buried in Beechwood Cemetery in her beloved Bensalem.

VETERANS SCHOLARSHIP

Bensalem High School, and the Bensalem Alumni Association, has a deep and profound respect for our nation’s veterans. The Bensalem Alumni Association started the Veteran’s Wall in Bensalem High School, honoring any BHS alumnus who served their country and wishes to be remembered on the wall.

Since 2020, a scholarship has been created to honor all of the BHS veterans who have served us in times of peace and war.

MAT’S PHARMACY SCHOLARSHIP

Mat Slakoper is owner and pharmacist at Mat’s Pharmacy and Medical Supply on Bristol Pike in Croydon, PA. Mat’s wife, Carol Soltys Slakoper, is a BHS graduate from the class of 1978.

Mat’s Pharmacy supported the annual Bensalem Alumni Association Golf Outing for several years through sponsorship and participation in the golfing.

Since 2006, Mat’s Pharmacy has generously endowed this scholarship. Mat is proud of his career; and wishes to help other students wanting a career in Pharmaceutical Studies.

MILNER SCHOLARSHIP

This scholarship is endowed by Robert Milner (class of 1962) and Eleanor Day Milner (class of 1964).

Since 2015, this scholarship has provided aid to a BHS graduate desiring a career in religious ministry, or who demonstrates strong religious belief.

Consider this biblical passage when thinking of this award: Proverbs 22 6: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

WILLIAM JOHN STINGER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

This scholarship is endowed by Robert Stinger, class of 1971. He is a second generation BHS graduate, both his parents having graduated from BHS in 1941.

William J. Stinger was a WWII navy veteran, and earned a degree in Mathematical education. William Stinger taught at Bensalem High School from 1954 until 1964, before going to Neshaminy School District, eventually rising to the Assistant Superintendent position.

Robert Stinger was looking through our Newsletter a few years ago, and saw a scholarship in Pat Hennessy's name. A spark was ignited, metaphorically, and Bob has been choosing the recipients of this scholarship ever since. Since 2022, the William Stinger Memorial Scholarship is presented to a BHS graduate who is looking for a career in teaching.

MARJORIE DORIS WEBB STINGER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

This scholarship is also endowed by Robert Stinger, class of 1971. He is a second generation BHS graduate, both his parents having graduated from BHS in 1941.

Marjorie Webb Stinger was a nurse at Bensalem High School from 1972-1973 and was a nurse in the Bensalem Township School District for several years, working across several of the elementary and middle schools in our school district.  

Robert Stinger was looking through our Newsletter a few years ago, and saw a scholarship in Pat Hennessy's name. A spark was ignited, metaphorically, and Bob has been choosing the recipients of this scholarship ever since. Since 2022, the Marjorie Webb Stinger Memorial Scholarship is presented to a graduate who is desiring a career in nursing.

AL BADER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Albert W. “Al” Bader was a lifelong resident of Bensalem; and was a graduate of Bensalem High School in the class of 1951. Al lettered in four sports: Football, Basketball, Table Tennis, and Baseball; the latter of which he most excelled. Al wanted to make Baseball his “career,” according to his yearbook. He would be inducted into the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969 for his accomplishments in baseball.

After Al graduated, he opened a construction company. His company built several of the buildings in our area, including apartment houses, commercial complexes, and industrial buildings.

Al was also civic-minded, serving as a township supervisor, a Bensalem Township Water Authority Supervisor, and serving on various committees in our township’s government.

Al purchased the Cornwells Golf Club in 1984, and immediately changed the name to the Bensalem Township Country Club. Al got to realize his dream when Bensalem Township took over management of the golf course in 2006. Al died shortly thereafter due to complications from diabetes.

Although Al did not attend college, he had a passion for learning and a value of education. In his will, Al set-up the Al Bader Foundation, with the sole purpose of giving back to the youth of Bensalem. Since 2014, the Al Bader Memorial Scholarship has provided students of Bensalem with much needed assistance with their dreams of a college education.

PATRICK “PAT” HENNESSY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Pat Hennessy graduated from Bensalem High School in 1971. Pat did not attend college; he, instead, worked for himself as a contractor. Through his hard work, Pat was able to get married, have a child, and live a successful and fulfilling life.

Pat Hennessy died in 2017. His widow, Kathy Michaels Hennessy (class of 1974), started a scholarship in her husband’s name in 2020. Kathy is a third generation BHS graduate who raised a fourth generation BHS graduate.

This scholarship is awarded to a BHS graduate who is going into a trade.

LINDA PRINDLE PANUCCIO MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Linda Carol Prindle was born on December 9, 1954 in Philadelphia. Her family moved to Andalusia when she was very young, and she attended Bensalem Township School District schools for her entire education. She would graduate from BHS in 1972.

Linda was very independent, and started working when she was a teenager. For many years, she worked in the printing industry.

Linda made a lasting impact by volunteering for the Bensalem Alumni Association (BAA). She started in 2007 by helping her fellow classmate, former Treasurer Patricia Ferguson Marks, with the treasury responsibilities. Linda would go on to be elected to be Vice-President, a position she held for the remainder of her time with the BAA.

Outside of her responsibilities with the BAA, Linda enjoyed music. Linda had a beautiful singing voice that she liked to show to people. She was a cantor at Saint Thomas Aquinas Church in Croydon, and she was a charter member of the Bucks County Women’s Chorus. Linda got to travel the world with her fellow choir members, performing in Ireland, the Mediterranean, and other foreign locales.

Linda toiled for the last months of her life with cancer. She did her best to battle the disease, and continue with all her volunteering. Reluctantly, she had to give up her duties with the BAA towards the final months of her fight. Linda passed away on December 26, 2025 at the age of 71. She is survived by her husband, son, daughter, brother and sister-in-law, nephews, and countless friends.

This memorial scholarship honors Linda’s legacy. This scholarship is awarded to a BHS graduate who excels in music.  

FRED “BEEFO” BRENNAN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Fred Brennan was born in 1947 in Frackville, PA. Fred was drafted into the US Army in 1966 and was honorably discharged in 1969. He immediately enrolled in college on the G.I. Bill, and eventually earned his degree in 1972 in Industrial Arts.

After working in the field in West Virginia for a few years, Fred re-enrolled to attain his teaching certification, which he received in 1973. He was soon hired by the Bensalem Township School District, and he spent over 30 years as an Industrial Arts teacher at Bensalem High School.

Over the course of his three decades as an educator, Fred served as the head of the Industrial Arts Department, and was the Cooperative Education ( aka “Co-op”) Director for many years before his retirement in 2008. He also coached football and baseball.

Fred lived in Bensalem, and raised his children in the school district as well. In his spare time, Fred was also involved in the Harry Clunn Memorial VFW in Bensalem, and the Frackville Elks, Lodge 1533. Fred passed away in June 2025. A memorial scholarship was immediately created in his honor.

This memorial scholarship is awarded to a student who excels in sports who also wishes to go to college for an education degree.

IDA LEUSNER PARKS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Ida Leusner was born in 1950 in New Jersey, and lived in New Jersey her entire life. She graduated from Cinnaminson High School in 1968. She earned her degree in Language Education in 1972.

Ida began teaching at Bensalem High School in September 1975, and retired in 2014. Ida taught multiple languages, including German and French. Her expertise was with the German language. She retired as the last German Language teacher at Bensalem High School in 2014.

Ida was married in 1976, and raised her two daughters in New Jersey. Ida passed away in 2024. This scholarship was set-up in her honor by her family. This memorial scholarship is awarded to a student going into foreign language education.

McFADDEN-FOSSILE ATHLETE SCHOLAR AWARD

Four friends, more like family, got together in 2026 to fund a scholarship to be awarded to a Bensalem High School senior who was not only a good athlete, but also a good student.

Two friends, Robert McFadden and Jim Fossile (both of the class of 1976), Robert’s son Christian McFadden (class of 1996), and Jim’s older brother Dan Fossile (class of 1975) are the four friends who pooled their resources to fund this award.

The Bensalem Alumni Association is honored to match the funds of this scholarship award.