Toll Gate High School has announced the winners of the first annual Rita Craig Lynch Scholarship. The award is given to a student who exemplifies courage, perseverance and strength despite adversity; a student who may not be as aware of his or her personal accomplishments as the teachers, guidance counselors, family and friends who know otherwise. The student is an inspiration and a beacon of hope for others. And like the lilac (Rita Craig Lynch’s favorite flower), a symbol of gentle, sophisticated promise.

The award is intended to be used to support a high school student’s dreams and wishes for the future, whether through higher education, trade school or a certificate program.

This year the $2,000 award winner is Julia Schultz.

Two additional $500 merit awards went to Jessica Brosnahan and Jennie Sullivan, whose applications proved equally inspiring.

The scholarships are given in memory of Rita Craig Lynch, a nurse, wife, mother of five and grandmother known for her caring and compassionate ways and business savvy, who raised her family in Warwick and lived a life of service and compassion for others. She graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Providence and St Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing. She and her husband James were owners of “Your Host Ice Cream Parlor” in Apponaug. She worked as a private duty nurse during World War II, was the first visiting nurse in the city of Warwick and a staff nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital until 1959.

The scholarship was founded by Marycatherine (Horan) Mamary in loving memory of her grandmother, Rita Craig Lynch.