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9/24/22 Julie Riese Memorial Scholarship Recipients Announced

24 September 2022 News


Fond du Lac, Wis. : The Julie Riese Memorial Scholarship Committee has selected two $1,000 recipients for higher education study in the 2022-23 academic year.

Scholarship awards were given to Braylee Freund, a graduate of St. Mary’s Springs Academy who will be pursuing a degree at Marian University, and Margaret “Maggie” Sawicki, a graduate of Fond du Lac High School who will be pursuing a degree at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Both women lettered in volleyball, which is an eligibility requirement for the award.

“Julie’s life mission was to help others achieve their goals and hopefully, even in a small way, if this helps them get started, she’s smiling and giving her famous thumbs up,” said Julie’s husband, George Riese.

A golf outing was held in August to raise money for the Julie Riese Memorial Scholarship. In addition to the scholarship, funds were also raised to support organizations that had an impact on or connection to Julie and the positive way she lived her life.

Julie Riese was the head volleyball coach at Fond du Lac High School from 1986-2012. Julie was also a coach and director for the Fond du Lac Fusion Volleyball Club from 2002-2019. Julie was inducted into the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Fond du Lac Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

When describing his wife, George Riese said “the basic fundamental of Julie was her gift to try to make everyone’s life better and realize their potential.”

Julie passed away on April 19, 2019 following a courageous 11-year fight with metastatic breast cancer. Later that year, George established the Julie Riese Memorial Scholarship to honor Julie’s passion for realizing and empowering potential.

To contribute to the Julie Riese Memorial Scholarship, mail to Fond du Lac Area Foundation, 1020 S. Main Street, Suite E, Fond du Lac, WI 54935 with Riese on the memo line or visit https://fdlareafoundation.com/donate.html.


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