ELIZABETH STOVER FAGAN MEMORIAL FUND
The Memorial Fund was established in 1982 to honor Betsy and provide an annual scholarship to a deserving graduating senior at East Lansing High School
Our Mission
The Elizabeth Stover Fagan Memorial Fund was established in 1982 when Betsy died of a brain stem tumor. Since then, the fund has provided a scholarship each spring for a graduating senior at her alma mater, East Lansing High School. The scholarship rewards a student who deserves a pat on the back, as determined by the high school counseling department and Fagan and Stover family members.
The non-profit fund is supported by an annual charity golf outing in Charlevoix, Michigan, known as The Boo Boo Memorial. Betsy enjoyed her last summer on the shores of Lake Charlevoix in a region that has been a retreat for both the Stover and Fagan families for many decades.
The Scholarship
Our Roots at East Lansing High
After Betsy’s passing, our family established a memorial fund to honor her. Ten of the children from the Stover and Fagan families attended East Lansing High between 1959 and 1980—an idyllic era for our community—so the high school was the right place to provide support in honor of Betsy’s memory.
Since most of the family members were golfers, a golf fundraising event was the obvious choice for rallying family and friends to support the cause.
Our Tradition
Thanks to the families’ strong ties to East Lansing High, we received wonderful cooperation from the principal and the counseling department. We established an annual tradition for the selection process. Every spring, the Counseling Department identifies 4 to 6 deserving candidates based on the families’ guidelines. Then in May, a small group of family members has the honor of interviewing the candidates at the high school to select the scholarship recipient.
Over the years, many family members have participated in these interviews. It is always a moving and eye-opening experience to hear firsthand about the students’ journeys. When we first established the scholarship, we were unaware of the significant adversity faced by so many ELHS students. Hearing about the challenges they navigate has given us a much deeper appreciation for their resilience and spirit.
A Pat on the Back
We try to understand what the students have overcome, whether they are handicapped or blind, deaf or orphaned, destitute or mentally challenged, an ESL student, or the primary caregiver for a family member. We never know what to expect from the candidates, and the interviews can get emotional.
Who most deserves a pat on the back? We consider the person, their challenges, and more. And we think about Betsy.
The Scholarship Recipients
Ari James, Lansing Community College and Clark Atlanta University 2026 Scholarship Recipient -Ari James
Ari James has been selected to receive the 2026 Elizabeth Stover Fagan Memorial Scholarship by members of the Stover and Fagan families and the East Lansing High School Counseling Department. Ari is bright, athletic, and charming, and she has bravely faced devastating health challenges.
As an excellent student, Ari was a rising star athletically heading into her Junior year at ELHS. She already held the school high jump record (5’7), and she was receiving basketball scholarship offers from Division One colleges. Before school started in August, she was diagnosed with blood clots in her brain and lungs. Surgery was required to remove the clots, leaving her unable to walk or talk. After a long stay in the ICU, she began her difficult recovery. She missed 3 months of school, and had to relearn to use her body. Typing was an important skill that just recently returned. She caught up with her schoolwork and has been welcomed back to her athletic teams with a remarkably positive attitude, but with onlyh a shadow of her former prowess and with great care to avoid cuts.
She plans to attend Lansing Community College as she continues to cope with threatening new blood clots. Once she’s physically able, she plans to attend Clark Atlanta University to study communications.
Best of luck Ari!
Previous Recipients
’25 Lainey Hampton
’23 Sophia Stiles
23’ Addison Bennett
23’ Lilly Ramsby
23’ Zoe Cruz
Elizabeth Stover Fagan
(aka Betsy and Boo Boo)
My sister, Betsy (aka Boo Boo) was a magical little girl whose joyous life spirit naturally drew people to her and made everyone feel like her best friend. We all enjoyed East Lansing, which was a wonderful place to raise a family. However, even as a child, she faced consequential personal challenges, overcoming polio at a young age and later the heartbreaking loss of our father when she was only eleven years old.
- Woody Stover
Betsy and Susie Stover 1979
Betsy had a heart of gold. Her smile lit up a room. She was upbeat, warm, charming, generous and intelligent. She made friends easily.
Betsy’s father, Stan Stover’s nickname for her was Boo Boo Bear, a popular character in the animated cartoon, Yogi Bear. Her sister Susie kept using her nickname, but most everyone knew her as Betsy.
Susie Stover met Jimmy Fagan when they were both 12-year-olds in dance class at the Country Club of Lansing, and they soon became a couple. About four years later, Jimmy and Susie decided to introduce Betsy and Paul Fagan over the phone. Soon, Paul and Betsy also became a couple.
Betsy and Paul - ELHS Homecoming 1968
Betsy’s father, Stan Stover, died when she was in eighth grade, which was challenging for the Stover family. When her mother, Helen, later remarried and moved to St. Joseph, Michigan, Betsy chose to remain in East Lansing to finish her senior year at East Lansing High School. Fortunately, she was invited to live with the Foote family, longtime neighbors and close family friends.
It is fitting that the scholarship now supports students at East Lansing High who are facing challenges of their own.
ELHS Graduation 1972
Aunt Mary Last, Betsy, and sister Susie Stover
Betsy and Howard Stover 1979
Woody, Betsy, Helen Carlson, and Howard Stover 1980
Betsy and Paul - Made of Honor and Best Man 1980
In 1980, Jimmy Fagan and Susie Stover were married. Paul and Betsy were the best man and maid of honor for their wedding in a little stone church near East Jordan.
Betsy - Chicago Lakefront 1980
The romance continued for Betsy and Paul who both graduated from the University of Michigan. They both moved to Chicago, but Paul and Betsy often escaped the big city to join Jimmy and Susie at their cottage on the banks of Lake Charlevoix. Betsy became a successful investment banker, a rising star in the bond business, and life was good for the young couple in the windy city, until she was diagnosed with an incurable and inoperable brain stem tumor. Betsy battled, and every treatment option was explored in Chicago, Ann Arbor, California, and New York.
Associated Press story appeared in hundreds of papers
They were engaged, and the wedding planning began, which was a good motivator for her to battle the tumor. They had a family ceremony in August of 1982 in the same stone church where Jimmy and Susie were married, with a reception on the banks of Lake Charlevoix.
She passed away at her mother’s house in East Lansing 16 days later, on August 30th.
The wedding announcement and the obituary arrived so close to one another that it caught the attention of a feature writer for the Lansing State Journal. The front-page story was picked up by the Associated Press and appeared in hundreds of papers within a week.
Betsy was a glowing light that always radiated brightness, someone who shared the bountiful warmth of her friendship, humanity, and love with so many…and Dede and I always considered ourselves fortunate to be among the happy recipients of her generous spirit.
- Jimmy & Dede Caughman (Chicago Roommates)
Support the Effort
Whether you join us in Charlevoix or just want to contribute, you can help us continue to provide this annual scholarship.
The Elizabeth Stover Fagan Memorial Fund is a 501(c)(3 ) non-profit charitable organization, so you can make a tax-deductible donation.
