Dale Pinkerton

More than three dozen individuals, companies and organizations have gifted nearly $29,000 to a new Butler County Community College scholarship celebrating the life of Dale Pinkerton, a Butler County businessman, two-term county commissioner and former BC3 trustee who passed away in January at age 79.

This fall, the BC3 Education Foundation will award its first $1,000 Dale Pinkerton Leadership Scholarship. Created by Pinkerton’s wife, Millie, the scholarship is available to a first-year, full-time BC3 student who has successfully completed the Butler County Youth Leadership program organized by the Butler County Chamber of Commerce.

“I’ve known Dale since I was 16,” Millie Pinkerton said. “He was always leader. Even in high school (at Carrick), he always sold the most candy bars. He always sold the most magazines. He was so proud of BC3. He loved kids. This scholarship puts the two together.”

Pinkerton “was a huge supporter of the nonprofits in the community,” said Ruth Purcell, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation. “He was one of those guys who always had a good word for you, and was always promoting the college.”

Millie Pinkerton agreed.

“Everything he did, he did for other people,” she said. “That’s what a leader should do.”

This is an excerpt from a larger article that will appear in Wednesday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.