Boxing scholarship honors Candice Berner
Candice Berner's name was forever linked to the Butler Cubs boxing program Saturday night.
During an amateur fight card in the Cubs gym, the Candice D. Berner Memorial Scholarship was officially introduced. Her parents dominated $500 toward it and Specialty Outreach Services — located in the Cubs Hall and connected to the boxing program — matched that figure.
Butler Cubs ASA, the boxing team and Berner's friends are also contributing to the still-growing fund.
"We'll award a bigger scholarship as the fund builds over time," Cubs boxing manager Don Spinetti said.
Originally from the Slippery Rock area and a graduate of Slippery Rock University, the 4-foot-10, 110-pound Berner was a member of the Cubs boxing team briefly before going to Alaska to be a teacher in the Lake and Peninsula Borough School District.
While training for a marathon in Alaska, Berner, 32, was killed by wolves in March 8 of this year.
"Candice lived life her way and got the most out of her life that way," her father, Robert Berner, said. "She was adventurous and athletic.
"She loved the Cubs boxing program. What they do here is work worth doing."
Berner originally took up boxing in the state of California as a way of gaining respect from the inner city kids she was teaching.
Cubs Boxing assistant manager Steve Six presented the scholarship plaque to the Berner family Saturday. The plaque will be hung in the gym with the name of each scholarship recipient added to it annually.
The scholarship will first be awarded in 2011. It will go to a Cubs boxer who is a senior in high school with solid academic standing, furthering his or her education.
"Two years ago, we had a young lady come into our gym wanting to box," Six said. "I was skeptical because she wasn't very big.
"Her heart was gigantic. Candice Berner was unbelievable. I never met anybody like her. She gave everything she had."
Mr. Berner described his daughter as "fearless, tough, resilient and passionate."
"She'd be happy to know her participation in boxing resulted in a scholarship in her name," he added.
Cubs boxer Billy Wolfe, 10, ran a half-marathon in Erie with Berner last July. He was 9 at the time and was the youngest runner to finish the event.
"Candice inspired me to do it," Wolfe said. "I wanted to start running to train for boxing and she helped me. I ran a mile with her one time, then 1Z\x miles, then two, then three ... Donovan (Malovich) started running, too, then some other guys."
That was a small sample of Berner's time on earth, her father said.
"She impacted people's lives," he said,. "She especially liked working with kids and evolved toward working with Special Education kids.
"Candice saw qualities in people that others didn't."
