Recognizing the community’s need for trained nurses and recalling his family’s long-time ties to Morton College in Cicero, Donald E. Pechous of Stickney and longtime resident of Berwyn has established a Nursing Scholarship Fund in memory of his parents and those of his late wife, Carla Zourek Pechous.
The $16,000 fund to be administered through the Friends of Morton Foundation will award two $8,000 scholarships to qualifying students who complete the college’s two-year nursing program.
One scholarship will be awarded in memory of James J. Zourek and his wife, Ann Kohout Zourek, former residents of Cicero. Another scholarship will be in memory of John M. Pechous and Francis Seidel Pechous, formerly of Berwyn. Pechous chose Morton College to receive his scholarship donations because of numerous family ties to the school. “My father-in-law, James Zourek was a long-time member of the Morton College Board,” Pechous said. “His son, James Jr., also served on the board as did my brother, Roy.”
As a former Berwyn resident, Pechous also attended Morton College where he was elected president of the sophomore class and graduated Phi Theta Kappa as did his brother, Robert. Pechous went on to a career in teaching and later in public service as Berwyn’s 1st Ward alderman and City and Township Clerk.
