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William “Pat” and Wanda Beachell Libraries Student Employee Endowed Scholarship

William and Wanda

The purpose of this endowment is to provide assistance to University Libraries student employees as part of the Libraries Student Employee Scholarship Program.

This endowment was established in 2008 by Paula Walker, Director of Libraries Space Planning, and her husband Ronald B. Walker, to honor Paula’s parents, William “Pat” and Wanda Beachell.

Pat and Wanda were both born and raised in Nebraska. One of seven children, Pat Beachell was raised on a small farm near Grant, Nebraska. Wanda’s father was a school teacher in eastern Nebraska.

Pat and Wanda met when they were attending the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Both of them struggled financially to attend college during the Great Depression of the 1930s. They married in 1940.

Soon afterwards, Pat enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as an airplane mechanic in Chico, California, where he was stationed during WWII. After the war, Pat began his career with the USDA, with positions in Moscow, Idaho and Portland, Oregon. Wanda worked as a secretary in various positions at the University of Idaho and later the Railroad Administration and the US Department of Fisheries and Wildlife.

They had two daughters, Paula and her sister Eloise. Both daughters were encouraged to go to college and to seek any career that challenged them. Paula and Ron wanted to recognize and honor Paula’s parents by providing scholarship support for student employees of the UW Libraries.