Russell and Virginia Garman

Russ Garman first visited Sandhills Community College shortly after moving to the area in 1987. Being a great enthusiast of recreational gardening he attended a gardening class taught by Harry Neeley to become more familiar with gardening in the Sandhills where the soil and plants are quite different from his native state of Michigan. Having enjoyed the first class, he soon after took a landscape gardening class taught by Dee Johnson. Since then he has taken many curriculum and continuing education classes—including several about managing personal finances. Russ has been a docent for the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens since shortly after moving to the area mostly volunteering in the Ball Visitor Center. Virginia has also taken classes at Sandhills generally to learn more about photography and computers. She said it was a wonderful way to spend time since the courses are so varied and the instructors are great, and for seniors it is a very affordable activity.

After many years of involvement with Sandhills and knowing the difference the college made in the lives of its students, Russ and his first wife, Barbara, decided they wanted to endow a scholarship and do what they could to help a Sandhills student get their college education. Russ spent 10 years taking classes to earn his degree, and he said that the best advice he could give to students today is that having the will to persevere in your education is the most important thing to remember—knuckle down and stick with it and you will reach your goals.

Both Russ and Virginia enjoyed long and happy first marriages, however both lost their first spouse to illness around the same time. They met when attending a Boles Funeral Home luncheon. In 2010 they will have been happily married to each other for eight years.

Russ and Virginia always enjoy meeting the student receiving their scholarship and hearing about their studies. They also really appreciate and often save the thank you notes they receive from their students and take great pleasure in reading them.