Scholarship honors McNerney name
JEFFERSON TWP — Tim McNerney’s life ended way too soon.
But a number of Butler County students will continue to benefit from it.
The Tim McNerney Scholarship Fund has been started at Washington & Jefferson College and will be presented to its first recipient prior to the 2014-15 academic year.
“We couldn’t get all of the details worked out to get it started this year, but we’ve had plenty of donations ... It will be a sizable amount,” Denise McNerney, Tim’s mother, said of the scholarship.
McNerney, 21, a victim of a late-night robbery, was killed a year ago. He was a Knoch graduate and a standout running back for the Knights and Washington & Jefferson.
It was his senior teammates at W&J who wanted to work on establishing a scholarship in his honor.
“They wanted to do something to honor Tim’s memory, to pay homage to him as a teammate and friend,” W&J coach Mike Sirianni said. “I thought it was a great idea.
“More than anything, Tim was a great kid who was liked by everybody on this team. As a football player, he was one of the best running backs I ever coached.”
McNerney ran for 2,336 yards and 30 touchdowns at W&J. He led Knoch to the WPIAL semifinals in high school, rushing for 1,785 yards and 24 touchdowns that season.
The main fund-raiser for the scholarship was a golf outing held Aug. 31 at Village Green Golf Course in Hickory. There were 110 golfers at the event.
“Knowing all that Tim meant to people, I’m not surprised at all over the support that scholarship is receiving,” Knoch football coach Mike King said. “They (McNerneys) are a special family.”
Mrs. McNerney said golfers included “Knoch and W&J coaches, alumni of W&J, students at Knoch who were friends of Tim, people who played basketball with him, people from the YMCA ... they came from all over.”
Other projects have been put together to fund the scholarship as well, including a basketball game against the Steelers at W&J.
The scholarship will be presented annually to a male or female Butler County student who is strong academically and who excels in either sports or music.
Music was a big part of McNerney’s life as well.
“Tim always had a love for music,” his mother said. “He always played an instrument and had been dabbling in writing rap songs.”
Mrs. McNerney said she hopes to stay “very active” in the scholarship program and is interested in meeting its recipient annually.
“That golf outing will only pick up steam in coming years,” Sirianni said. “It’s a very positive thing to take part in.”
Mrs. McNerney said next year’s golf outing will likely take place at a Butler County golf course in the spring.
“Having the outing in late August made it tough on the football people to get there,” she said. “The spring will work out better.”
Contact Denise McNerney at mcnerneygolf@gmail.com if interested in contributing to the scholarship fund.
