Endowed Scholarship Fund - Unrestricted

THE HERB PATCHIN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP


         

The Herb Patchin Memorial Scholarship was established in 1964 to commemorate the memory of Mr. Patchin and the ideals for which he lived and worked. It provides grant-in-aid to a cadet-athlete in the 3rd, 2nd or 1st Class who is academically proficient, who is unselfishly devoted to the success of his or her team, whose conduct is excellent, and who best exemplifies the ideals of Mr. Patchin.

A native of Pennsylvania, Patchin arrived at VMI in 1929 as a trainer for the football team. He also took over from Coach Frank Gorton responsibility for intramural sports, and quickly expanded that program to 10 sports. He relinquished intramural sports in 1933 because of his increasing duties as head trainer for all inter-collegiate sports at VMI.

During World War II, Patchin took over as director of physical education at VMI. He retired from this position in 1963, when Dr. Clark King (now deceased) took over as head of that department.

Patchin died in September 1963. He was beloved by the Corps, the coaching staffs and the VMI Family. /In March 1949, VMI hosted a Herb Patchin Day to honor him. Posthumously, he was among the first to receive a "special citation" from the newly established VMI Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.

Cadet Daniel L. Welsh '10 (Men's Soccer) is recognized in the name of
the Herb Patchin Memorial Scholarship
for the 2007-08 school year.
He is pictured above with his parents.