From left: Dr. Randy Collard, RSF trustee, and son Blake; Peggy Buddin, wife of the late Pat Buddin; Fred Wulf, RSF Vice Chairman; Jerry Pinkston, RSF Chairman; Becky Jeans, RSF trustee; and Alease Copelin, RSF trustee.
May 6, 2015 - Roughrider Scholarship Foundation (RSF) board trustees, family, and friends gathered in front of the display case in the front foyer of Center High School to honor the memory of Patrick O'Neal Buddin who passed away in September of last year.
Fred Wulf began the plaque presentation ceremony by saying, "I want to talk about a dear friend, Pat Buddin, who we lost last year. Steve Tinkle and I have always been good friends with Pat. We got together one day and said we need to do something." Wulf went on to say they both decided to honor Buddin by establishing a Roughrider Scholarship in his name.
"Anyways, we started out raising money and it was probably the fastest I've ever raised money for anybody ever. We got well over $5,000 just quickly and Portacool came along and chipped in another $5,000. Then not long after that Peggy [Buddin], Jason [Buddin], and Adrienne [Buddin Schoelpple] contributed $5,000 each as well. So, Pat will have a silver plaque [in the display case]," reported Wulf.
Finishing his recount of his friend, Wulf disclosed, "[He] was always happy, always helping people, and helping people nobody knew he was helping. We have this plaque, which is a tribute to his memory, and there will be scholarships given in his name."
Alease Copelin, Center ISD counselor, announced scholarship night to be May 12th and scholarships will be presented starting this year in Buddin's name.
After photos Peggy Buddin, the wife of Pat Buddin, wanted to express her appreciation, "I would just like to say thank you to the people of Center for their goodness and kindness to us. We came here in [19]67 right after we got married and Dr. Chadwick and Robert Earl Watson approached Pat to ask him about going into business for himself and of course they wanted to be partners. So, that's how our company got started. We are just grateful for their support and their trust in him. The people in Center for what they have done to help make our company what it is and I'm proud to say we now have 63 offices in the state of Texas and thanks to the company, Pat was able to be generous and giving to so many people. We are just grateful and thankful to the people of Center."
Mrs. Buddin also acknowledge Fred Wulf and Steve Tinkle for their efforts in getting the scholarship going in Pat Buddin's memory. She also gave appreciation to her children for taking over the business.
For more information about the Catherine Pinkston Roughrider Scholarship Foundation, visit online http://roughriderscholarship.org/
Family of Pat Buddin: (from left) Brian Schoelpple, Adrienne Buddin Schoelpple, Peggy Buddin, Angela Buddin, Jason Buddin.
