The namesake of Virginia’s oldest school bus dealer awarded $2,500 each to five Virginia Tech students as part of an annual scholarship.
Photo courtesy Sonny Merryman, Inc,
Since 2003, Merryman has endowed the scholarships to children of local student transportation professionals. Merryman is a graduate of Virginia Tech and went on to start Sonny Merryman, Inc., the state’s oldest and largest dealer of Thomas Built Buses as well as El Dorado Coach, Startrans and Freightliner Sprinter.
Scholarship recipients for 2012 are: Rachel Estariz; Ashley Light; Crystal Deputy;William Browning; and Cody Anderson.
Estariz is a graduate of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach and is a Virginia Tech junior majoring in Communication Studies. Her grandfather, Eugene Gravelle, is a school bus technician for City of Chesapeake Public Schools. Light, an entering Virginia Tech freshman from Carroll County High School in Southwest Virginia is a food science and Technology major. Her grandfather, David Terry, is a school bus driver in Carroll County. Deputy, a senior majoring in natural resources conservation, graduated from Turner Ashby High School in Rockingham County. Her mother, Rhonda Deputy, is a special needs driver for the City of Harrisonburg Public Schools.
Browning is a Virginia Tech senior studying construction engineering and management. He attended Menchville High School in Newport News where his mother, Terry Browning, is a school bus driver. Anderson is a graduate of Cape Henry Collegiate School in Virginia Beach. She is a Virginia Tech sophomore majoring in Chemical Engineering. Both her mother, Belinda Anderson, and grandmother, Brenda Harrell, are former school bus drivers for Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
Over the years, Merryman has donated more than $1 million in college scholarships and financial aid. He also supports numerous community and civic organizations such as the Salvation Army, area YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, Junior Achievement, Presbyterian Homes, Boy Scouts of America, and local churches.
Customers of Sonny Merryman, Inc. include school districts, churches, hospitals, child care facilities, colleges, retirement communities and resort properties. The company has three locations in Virginia and employs more than 150.
