Opening Minds to a World of Possibilities

Ancilla College-Ruth and Lawrence Castaldi Scholarship Fund

As a young newly married couple in 1938, Ruth and Lawrence Castaldi ran a small grocery store in Ruth’s hometown of Logansport. They moved to the Chicago area when Lawrence started work at Midwest Spring Manufacturing Company. Midwest opened a plant in Mentone and the couple began looking for an Indiana town where they could raise a family. They settled on Warsaw, built a home there in 1954 and became very involved in the community.

Lawrence, as a businessman and civic leader, was leading such efforts as the Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko Community Hospital, Grace College, the Bowen Mental Health Center, and the United Way of Kosciusko County.

In the late 1970’s, Larry Castaldi organized and became the first president of United Way of Indiana. Castaldi tirelessly visited United Ways, securing their participation in the new state association. He helped secure a start-up grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. of Indianapolis.

Castaldi's belief in United Way and his unflagging determination to mobilize that community building power to address statewide issues provided the visionary leadership which gave the Association its strong foundation. Upon Castaldi's retirement as board chairman in 1980, the Association presented him with its first award, recognizing the invaluable contribution he had made to the United Way movement in Indiana. They named the award in his honor, as a lasting tribute to his undaunting spirit of voluntarism, the same spirit which the Association salutes today through the Castaldi Award. This award is presented to a volunteer or professional who has given personal, passionate, and persevering service to Indiana United Ways.

Mr. Castaldi was one of the leaders in establishing the Kosciusko Community Hospital and Ruth was involved too as a volunteer at the hospital for 30 years. She also was active in Zeralda Reading Club, Garden Club, Kosciusko County Historical Society, Sacred Heart Church’s Bible study group and several bridge groups. She delivered Meals on Wheels until she was 90. After her husband died in 1985, Ruth continued living in Warsaw because, as she used to say, “this is where my life is.” Longtime family friends, Will and June Erwin, helped familiarize the Castaldi family with Ancilla College. The Erwins spoke so highly of Ancilla that Mrs. Castaldi became interested and visited the college in 2005. Shortly after, Ruth made provisions in her will to start a scholarship fund. Both Ruth and Lawrence had been involved in several schools. Ruth liked giving to a Catholic college and she spoke often with her children, Diana (Castaldi) Scheeler, Becky (Castaldi) Jones, Loretta Castaldi and David Castaldi about how much she admired Ancilla.

“My mother grew up during the Great Depression, really wanted to go to college but wasn’t able to afford it,” explained Becky. “She wanted to make this opportunity available for young people whose lives could be improved by going to college but who hadn’t earned academic or athletic scholarships and thus couldn’t afford it.”

On June 2, 2008, the Ancilla College-Ruth and Lawrence Castaldi Scholarship Fund at MCCF was established as part of this estate gift. Mrs. Castaldi wanted to give to a place that helped people and she and her family wanted to leave a lasting legacy with this scholarship. The full impact is immeasurable as this support will drive the spirit and guide the minds of generations of students.