LAGRANGE — Applications are now being accepted for the Howe Legacy Scholarship, marking the inaugural year of a program created to honor the 135-year legacy of Howe Military School.
The scholarship was established in December 2021 at the LaGrange County Community Foundation using proceeds from the sale of Howe Military Academy following its closure in 2019.
For the program’s first year, the Foundation will award ten one-time scholarships of $5,000 each to students currently enrolled full time in a two-or-four-year program who plan to continue their studies in the fall 2026 semester.
Applications may be submitted through the Foundation’s online scholarship portal at www.lccf.net/scholarships no later than 4 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2026.
To be eligible, applicants must be enrolled full-time at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, trade school, or vocational institution in the United States and have a minimum 3.0 GPA. Official documentation will be required.
Applicants must also meet at least one of the following criteria:
· be a graduate of Howe Military Academy;
· have been enrolled as a cadet at the time of the school’s closure in June 2019;
· be a descendant (up to two generations) of a Howe Military Academy graduate; or
· be a resident of LaGrange County.
While preference will be given to applicants with ties to Howe Military, the Foundation encourages all eligible LaGrange County post-secondary students to apply.
“The Howe Legacy Scholarship reflects the commitment of preserving the school’s spirit of leadership and educational excellence,” said Beth Retterbush, LCCF Scholarship and LIFE Program Manager. “We are honored to steward this legacy and support students as they pursue their goals.”
Howe Military Academy traces its origins to 1884, when it was founded as the Howe Grammar School through a bequest from John Badlam Howe, a prominent banker, lawyer, and politician who settled in Howe in 1833. After his passing, his widow, Frances Marie Glidden Howe, used his $10,000 bequest — along with support from the Episcopal Church — to establish a preparatory
school for young men seeking ordination. The school opened in the former Howe family residence, a Greek Revival structure that still stands on the east end of the historic campus.
In 1895, the institution transitioned into a military academy. Howe Military Academy reached its peak enrollment of 458 cadets during the 1966–1967 academic year. As global attitudes toward military preparatory schools changed, enrollment gradually declined. Combined with the challenges of maintaining an aging campus, annual operating deficits mounted and eventually consumed the school’s assets. Howe Military Academy closed in 2019, concluding a remarkable chapter in the community of Howe.
Following the school’s closure, the Howe Military School Board of Trustees created two permanent funds at the Foundation: The Howe Legacy Fund, a community grantmaking fund supporting projects in Howe, and the Howe Legacy Scholarship Fund, a scholarship fund assisting students pursuing post-secondary education.