Edward and Janet Friedson Memorial Veterans Scholarship

Edward Friedson was a retired Captain in the United States Marine Corps. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Friedson and his Rollins College football teammates enlisted in the USMC reserves and were commissioned as Second Lieutenants. During his officer training in Quantico, Virginia, Mr. Friedson met and proposed to his future wife, Janet Himelfarb, before serving in Guam, Guadalcanal and Okinawa as a demolitions expert (1942-1945). They married upon his honorable discharge from service in 1946.

Edward and Janet Friedson shared a deep commitment to public service and love of country. Mr. Friedson was one of the founders of a career program at Cedar Knolls Youth Center in Laurel, Maryland, training incarcerated youth in auto mechanics, and later helped begin a similar program at the Lorton Correctional Complex in Virginia. He also founded a mentoring program called KIDS (Dr. King's Inspirational Dream Survives) in Southeast Washington, D.C., which provided college scholarships for inner-city elementary students who achieved academic distinction.

Following Edward's passing in 2008, Mrs. Friedson made the initial contribution to a Veterans scholarship at the University of Maryland in memory of Edward, and took great joy in attending the University's Veterans Reception each year. She passed away the morning of the Veterans reception in 2013 and was laid to rest by her family on Veterans Day.