September 2005 -

Alumnae Board Scholarship Honors Fallen Marine in Iraq

To honor the ultimate sacrifice by a 21-year-old Marine corporal who died in Iraq, the UW Alumnae Board has named one of its scholarships the Steven Rintamaki Memorial Scholarship.

Marine Cpl. Steven Rintamaki.
Marine Cpl. Steven Rintamaki. Photo courtesy of Myra Rintamaki, '71, '05.
Steven Rintamaki was the son of Myra Rintamaki, ’71, ’05, a four-year member of the Alumnae Board. Steven was in his fourth year as a Marine when his Humvee came under attack in Al Anbar province on Sept. 16, 2004. At that time, he was the 49th person with ties to Washington state to have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

Since 1946, the UW Alumnae Board has supported the UW by raising funds for student scholarships. It is among the top five contributors of scholarships at the UW. This year it is giving 12 full-tuition scholarships, six to entering freshmen and six to continuing students.

The Steven Rintamaki Memorial Scholarship is going to Maggie Shaw, an incoming freshman and survivor of bone cancer. “She is an awesome young woman who has endured remarkable challenges to go where she is today,” says Myra Rintamaki.

A year after Steven’s death, Myra Rintamaki still has her moments of grief, but she also takes comfort in the efforts to honor her only son. In addition to the Alumnae Board scholarship, she is also leading an effort to endow a Marine Corps scholarship in her son’s name.

“Access to funding and resources for young people for higher education is near and dear to my heart,” she says. She will be a volunteer at the Alumnae Board’s next fund-raising event, the Fall Frenzy Fashion and Trunk Show, which will be held starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, in the HUB Ballroom on the Seattle campus. The event features favorite vendors from past Alumnae Board fairs along with some new artisans. A portion of the sales will go to scholarships.

The Alumnae Board is also looking for volunteers who would like to join the organization. For more information, contact Courtney Acitelli at the UW Alumni Association, 206-543-0540.

To make a donation to the Alumnae Board Scholarship Fund, visit the Alumnae Board pages at the UWAA Web site.