1889 Foundation is delighted to announce that the Audrey Hargreaves Bearer Scholarship Fund has been established in memory of a local nurse who valued her education and the Conemaugh Health System.
Born in Altoona, Audrey Foster was a nursing student at the Jefferson School of Nursing in Philadelphia when she met her future husband, William J. Hargreaves, a medical student. Audrey graduated from Jefferson in 1948, and the couple relocated to Johnstown, where William practiced as a board-certified OB/GYN. The couple raised their three children here. Audrey stopped practicing as a nurse after becoming a mother, but remained an active supporter of the hospital throughout her long life, serving on the volunteer auxiliary.
The couple’s son, James Hargreaves, has continued in his mother’s footsteps as a volunteer, and became the chair of 1889 Foundation’s first board in 2014. He served as chair through 2017, and is still an active member of the board. He and his sisters, Susan Brisco of Ellicott City, Md., and Kathy Oszustowicz of Dallas, established this new fund after their mother’s passing in November 2020. (The family is pictured above: from left, Audrey Hargreaves Bearer; Kathy Oszustowicz; James Hargreaves; Susan Brisco).
The connection between the Hargreaves family and 1889 is only strengthened by the fact that Audrey and William Hargreaves both received their medical training at Jefferson, which is the foundation’s partner on the 1889 Jefferson Center for Population Health.
Renewable scholarships from the Audrey Hargreaves Bearer Fund will be awarded each spring to outstanding nursing school students by the Scholarship Committee, which includes 1889 Foundation staff, Conemaugh School of Nursing faculty, and the school’s financial aid office. 1889 Foundation thanks the Hargreaves family for this generous gift!
