Scholarship will honor Mill Creek employee

Photo

Mindy Henning

By Denise Dick

About $6,500 has been contributed so far for the scholarship.

YOUNGSTOWN — A new scholarship memorializes a late Mill Creek MetroParks employee, her love of nature and her passion for sharing it with others.

Mindy Henning, 45, manager of interpretive services at MetroParks’ Ford Nature Center, died May 25, after suffering a brain aneurysm.

The park is establishing a memorial scholarship in her name, to be awarded to a student of environmental or outdoor education.

“It started after a letter to the editor suggested it,” said David Imbrogno, park executive director.

He sent the letter to Henning’s parents, Robert Jr. and Shirley Schrader Henning, of Michigan, and they agreed it was a fitting way to honor their daughter’s memory.

“We’ve had a number of contributions,” Imbrogno said.

Henning was hired in 1991 as an assistant manager of interpretive services and appointed manager in 2000. She previously worked for Pittsburgh City Parks.

She met her fianc , Tom Bresko, park recreation director, after coming to Mill Creek. The two were a couple for 10 years and planned to marry next year.

“We were soulmates,” Bresko said.

The two traveled together to 28 countries with many of the trips planned around a love of nature.

They visited the Amazon and Nicaragua, walked in the Andes Mountains and went bird-watching in Ecuador.

Her love of educating others about nature may have grown out of a love of knowledge and sharing that knowledge of the natural world and the environment, Bresko said.

“She knew it could enhance a person’s life — being outdoors and enjoying the environment,” he said.

Bresko said he believes Henning’s love of nature started as a child with family camping trips.

“We were planning when I retired to trace some of the camping trips she took as a child to see how it was different as an adult,” the recreation director said.

Bill Adams of Austintown was the author of the letter to The Vindicator that spawned the Henning scholarship idea.

“She was a long-time employee of the park and for over 10 years, I would go on hikes at the park that she led,” Adams said. “Her hikes were always educational for me.”

Henning talked about the animals and plants found in the park, as well as its history.

“She was dedicated to the education of the public about Mill Creek Park,” Adams said.

He also attended the quarterly book club meetings developed and led by Henning. Each book focused on nature or people’s interaction with it.

Adams counted himself among the regulars who enjoyed Henning’s hikes, sometimes with his wife and sometimes alone.

“There were a couple of times when there were literally two or three people and she would go ahead with the hike,” Adams said.

About $6,500 has been donated for the scholarship so far, with $10,000 the goal. A committee will likely be established to screen applicants and pick the recipient. They hope to award a $500 scholarship this year and continue it in subsequent years, the executive director said.

Contributions may be sent to the MetroParks, 7574 Columbiana-Canfield Road, P.O. Box 596, Canfield 44406-0596, with checks payable to the Mill Creek Park Foundation and Mindy Henning Scholarship in the memo line or an accompanying letter.

Friends and co-workers also were moved by Henning’s passion for nature.

“What really motivated her more than anything else was her desire to see that people could appreciate the natural world the way she did,” said Ginny Elser, park assistant recreation director.

Henning had a way of conveying her enthusiasm for the outdoors in her programs and her teaching to encourage that enthusiasm among others, Elser said.

But she was involved in other pursuits too. She was a member of Youngstown Road Runners Club and she loved travel and reading. She also supported charitable causes and organizations, Elser said.

“She believed the concept that it’s up to individuals to make the world a better place and she put her money where her mouth is,” she said.