The Marion Cook Education Grant is given to one or more women, age 21 or older, who live in Fairview Park, Ohio, to assist with vocational or college studies. The amounts of these one-time grants vary, depending upon how much the club raises during the year through its ways and means projects.

Your application must be received by the FPWC by the April 15, 2024, due date to be considered. Note that the Marion Cook Education Grant application is currently a paper application and must be returned to the committee by mail, so please plan to apply in plenty of time to allow for receipt of your application.

---

In June 1948, a group of women began organizing what was to become the Fairview Park Women’s Club (FPWC). The necessary paperwork was prepared and filed, with the first meeting held at Bain Cabin on December 15, 1948, beginning with the installation of officers. There were 320 charter members who were very active in the community. However, membership was open only to women aged 36 and older.

The many women under 36 who also wished to become active in the community considered organizing a club of their own. Marion Cook, who was 29 at the time, along with sixteen other women, founded the Fairview Park Junior Women’s Club (FPJWC) in 1954 with the objective “To promote a sense of responsibility among women toward creative interest in civic, social and welfare betterment of the community.” Marion was elected as the first president of the Fairview Park Junior Women’s Club. She served as president for two years, remaining very active in the club for many years, particularly in the golf club, bowling league, and bridge club. One of her daughters fondly remembers coming home many times to a living room full of women. During that time, Marion was also president of the women’s golf leagues at Lakewood Country Club. She and her husband played every Sunday, and she played with the women on Tuesdays and Thursdays. At one point, Marion had also joined the PTA, but decided to involve herself mainly with FPJWC. She managed all of this while raising two boys and two girls.

The original Fairview Park Women’s Club disbanded in the late 1990s due to low membership and the advanced ages of the few remaining members. The Fairview Park Junior Women’s Club continued on, allowing membership to any woman who wanted to join. In 2016, however, after much discussion regarding the makeup of its members, FPJWC thought it would make sense to change its name to the Fairview Park Women’s Club. FPWC is open to all women age 21 and older.

Marion Cook passed away on October 22, 2004, at the age of 79. In March 2005, in Marion’s honor, the club changed the name of its Continuing Education Grant to the Marion Cook Continuing Education Grant. Her family was thrilled with this honor, and her husband, Robert, donated some funds toward the first Marion Cook Continuing Education Grant. It has since been renamed the Marion Cook Education Grant.

The Marion Cook Education Grant is given in May of each year to one or more women, age 21 or older, who live in Fairview Park, Ohio, to assist with vocational or college studies. If you are in college, presently working, or looking to make a career change, please consider this grant to help assist you with your course expenses.