Fund Est. 2006
May 3, 1991 to June 26, 2006
15 year-old Sophomore at Bellmont High School
Established by: The Wilder Family,
parents: Michael and Susan Wilder and siblings: Aaron and Monica.
Moral, kind, smart, loving, sweet, funny, creative, inspirational – all wonderful traits every parent wants in their child. All were traits Emily’s parents saw in their daughter every day.
Emily was:
- Kind / Moral / wonderfully pleasant: Emily’s mother, Susan, said that Emily knew what was right and did just that. Emily’s math teacher, Mrs. Kathy Baker, said that Emily had a strong sense of morality. She knew right from wrong. She would apologize if she thought she had done even the smallest thing to offend anyone, and she wasn’t afraid to let someone know if she thought someone had said or done something improper.
- Fair / Smart: Her honesty and sense of fairness was always exemplified by her unwillingness to do even one less problem on her assignment than the other students had to do. Emily felt it simply wasn’t fair to the other students for her to have a reduced assignment.
- Loving and Sweet: Emily loved all of her family and was always thinking of others, often putting them ahead of herself. Even strangers and acquaintances were important people.
- Talented: Choir instructor, Mr. Ric Geist, added that Emily was very polite and kind at all times. Mr. Geist recalls that his students learned more than music from her. Adams County Children's Choir director, Mrs. Chris Hyman, fondly remembers that Emily was almost always singing as she entered the room and singing as she walked out.
- Funny: Emily had a great sense of humor, and enjoyed reading and telling jokes and silly stories. Mrs. Sue Sprunger and many teachers and friends have commented that they always looked forward to the jokes she told.
- Inspirational: Mrs. Cara Gerber, Emily’s high school teacher, said that Emily taught everyone who knew her a lot about life, love, and patience. Mrs. Gerber said that Emily was an amazing person, and she was the ‘perfect’ student. Emily met her challenges head-on. She was always meticulous about her assignments and responsible with her homework; conscientious about her demeanor in class, and caring about each person around her…every teacher in the world would want an ‘Emily-student’.
- A ‘Wonderful’ child: "Walk as children of light" – from the song "Children of Light" written by Valerie Ann Webdell
"Little Lamb, Little Lamb, Little Innocent Lamb, I’m a gonna serve God ‘til I die" – from the African-American spiritual song "Little Innocent Lamb".
Both of these quotes are from songs that Emily Wilder sang with the Adams County Children’s Choir in her final year in choir. Both are also part of who Emily was in life. Emily loved music and God, and was a light to those who knew her.
Emily was taken unexpectantly from her family on June 26, 2006. In the fifteen years she spent with them, they learned so much from her. Her family has set up this scholarship to honor and remember her, and to honor the teachers who helped her succeed in school and in life. May we all remember the wonderful lessons Emily taught each of us.