Genevieve Tiffin Barlow and Mary G. Barlow Medearis Memorial Scholarship

Established by Mrs. Mary Medearis to provide scholarship funding for students studying to be educators.
Genevieve Tiffin Barlow was widowed in 1941 at the age of 45. Her husband, Dr. Roscoe Lelan Barlow, had been a doctor near Arcola, Illinois. He died of heart failure, leaving Mrs. Barlow with two children to raise. As Mrs. Barlow had grown up on a farm 12 miles from Litchfield, Illinois; she did not have the opportunity to go to high school. However, she was determined to pursue an education and in 1913 at the get 18, Mrs. Barlow resumed her studies at Eastern Ilinois University. She was an amazing woman and very much ahead of her time after living through the Great Depression and World War II, and being widowed.
Both her children received scholarships to study at the University of Illinois and both graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in the early 1950s. Mrs. Barlow, however, did not receive her Bachelor’s degree until May 22, 1958. She was 63 years old and had just welcomed her fourth grandchild into the family two weeks before.
Mrs. Barlow continued to teach in public and parochial schools until she was 80 years old. At that time, “Playground Duty” became too difficult for her. For the next ten years, she tutored special needs children in her home. On her 90th Birthday, several students with Down Syndrome praised Mrs. Barlow for teaching them to read. Mrs. Barlow used to say “Anyone can teach a typical student; however, the BEST teachers are needed to teach struggling children.”
This scholarship is to honor Mrs. Barlow and all future educators needing assistance paying for their college education while raising a family or being supported by a single parent.