Mary Ellen Welch Class of 1989 was a student who loved Springfield College and was loved by her campus community. Those who knew Mary Ellen (AKA Mellon) said she really found a home here during her time as a student. She passed away from bone cancer in 1988 during her senior year. At the old Health Science Building, you may have seen a small stone with an engraving of a teddy bear and the name Mellon, from the class of 1989 and the epitaph “forever your heart will beat.” This stone was purchased by Mary Ellen’s classmates and stands as a testament to the special person she was.
A tribute to Mellon in the Student Newspaper reads “Although her right leg was amputated six years before her death, Mellon remained an avid participant in athletics. Most extraordinary was her ability to remain a full fledged New Englander as she took to the ski slopes, coursing down the powdered mountains, smiling at onlookers who stopped to admire her style and grace. Mellon's personality was her greatest gift… Mellon’s healthy outlook on life carried her courageously from one day to the next.”
Mary Ellen’s mother wrote a book to honor her daughter, A Tapestry of Courage: a loving tribute to her daughter and created this scholarship in her name. Mrs. Welch wants to provide assistance to SC students who are studying to help people with disabilities in majoring in fields which support individuals with differing abilities, such as Rehabilitation, Therapeutic Recreation, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology or other such majors with the grit to do so while coping with the challenges of their own disability.