Remembering Amy

NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY

****************************** New memorial fund helps Coast Guarders pay for LSSU

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - Active Coast Guard members, reservists, and their dependents stationed at Sector Sault now have help in continuing a higher education at Lake Superior State University.

The Amy Ignatowski Memorial Award provides one person up to $250 per semester for books and course supplies.

The number of awards will go up as the fund gathers interest and subsequent contributions.

The stipend is named in memory of Sault-native Amy Ignatowski, who died in 2008 while serving with the Coast Guard in Corpus Christi, Texas.

She is the daughter of Robin and Paul Ignatowski, both of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Generous memorial donations given by family, friends, and community members made it possible to inaugurate the fund.

Those who knew Amy Ignatowski knew a young lady with a very outgoing personality.

She wore a perpetual smile that could light up a room, and loved to share her positive attitude.

She had many life-long friendships and made new friends everywhere she went.

Ignatowski thought friendship to be very important, and had the utmost loyalty toward her friends, among whom she counted the many men and women with whom she served with in the United States Coast Guard.

Ignatowski believed in self-improvement.

She loved exercising both mind and body and setting new challenges and goals for herself. She worked out almost every day and was a voracious reader of books.

She loved listening to music and going to concerts.

She enjoyed many outdoor activities, among them hiking, snowboarding, swimming, fishing and kayaking.

Having grown up in Sault Ste. Marie, Lake Superior State University was a natural choice for her and she attended classes there and was a member of Alpha Theta Omega sorority before her enlistment in the Coast Guard.

She was attracted to the Coast Guard's lifesaving mission, and their can-do attitude made the service a perfect fit for her.

Ignatowski’s assignments included WAGB-11 Polar Sea, aboard which she crossed the Arctic Circle, earning her “Blue Nose” certificate.

She served briefly at USCG Air Station Humboldt Bay before attending aviation school at Elizabeth City, N.C., for Aircraft Maintenance Technician training.

She graduated with excellent scores and another group of friends.

A warm climate and her desire to fly in the HH-65 helicopter influenced her choice of Corpus Christi for her first air station assignment as an aviation maintenance technician (AMT).

She was working on earning her wings at the time of her death in May of 2008.

Air Station Corpus Christi Command saw fit to award Amy her wings posthumously, giving her the title of Petty Officer Amy Lynn Ignatowski, AMT3.

Amy Ignatowski Award applicants must be accepted as a student in any course of study at LSSU, with at least a GPA of 2.0.

Active-duty Coast Guard members must have completed a minimum of six months of military service and reservists must be in drilling status.

Interested students can fill out an application and questionnaire as set forth by a selection committee composed of a member of the Ignatowski family, USCG Education Service Officer, a representative of the LSSU Foundation, and a representative of the USCG-Sector Sault.

This award is non-renewable.

However, past recipients will be encouraged to reapply.

For more information about this or any one of the more than 100 scholarships and awards available at LSSU, call the LSSU Foundation Office at 906-635-2665 or run a search for “LSSU foundation scholarships” on the Web.

****************************** Pictured - Robin and Paul Ignatowski, both of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, create the Amy Ignatowski Memorial Award, named in memory of their daughter who died in 2008 while serving with the Coast Guard in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The award will provide one person enrolled at Lake Superior State University up to $250 per semester for books and course supplies.

Applications are open to any active Coast Guard member, reservist, and their dependents stationed at Sector Sault. Standing from left are Command Senior Chief Bret Jacobson, Education Service Officer Brian Streichert, and Deputy Commander Joseph Paitl.

Photo by Jeanne Shibley, LSSU