Oak Creek Historical Society

The Oak Creek Historical Society, in partnership with the Toerpe family, offered a scholarship to graduating Oak Creek high school students for the years 2015 through 2020. The scholarship was offered in memory of our society's late member, Gail Larson Toerpe.  Scholarship winners were:

​

2015       Maria Lemens

2016       Nicole Horner

2017       Morgan Johnson

2018       Emily Shelton

2019       Caitlin Reilley

2020       Abigail Paige Verfuerth

 

Gail Larson Toerpe (1935-2013) was a very active member of the Oak Creek Historical Society.  An enthusiastic and creative supporter of Society activities, she edited the OC Historical Society newsletter for many years, adding her own personal touch and wit.   Gail was also very active in other endeavors.  For 20 years, she and her husband, Bob, published the Washington Island Observer in Door County, the last independently owned newspaper in Wisconsin.  While president of  Writer’s Ink, a freelance writers group, her poems and children’s stories appeared in numerous magazines, books, and newspapers.  She was proud of her family’s history and genealogy, discovering descendants dating back to the Mayflower and Charlemagne. She was an active member of many genealogical organizations, most notably, the Daughters of the American Revolution. Gail’s commitment to community, family, and to the stories of the past continue to inspire all those who knew her.