Schlichting Firefighter Scholarship

In August of 1980, at the age of 29, Larry Schlichting became a firefighter with the Janesville Fire Department.  He and Christine had two young sons at the time, three-year old Ben, and eight-month old Brady.  Because of his strong desire to become a firefighter Larry took a cut in pay of nearly 30% to join the Department. While on the job he attended classes at Blackhawk Technical College to get his fire science degree. When Larry retired at the end of December of 2004 at the rank of Captain, it was with mixed emotions; he truly loved his life as a firefighter. Larry left the fire department to embark on a new adventure, traveling the USA with Christine in their motor home. Unfortunately, Larry passed away at age 53 in June of 2005 while hiking Quandary Mountain in Colorado.

Firefighting must have run in the Schlichting blood. Larry’s father, Howard Schlichting, had been a firefighter with the City of Beloit for almost twenty-four years, retiring as a Lieutenant in 1986.   Howard passed away in August of 2004 at age 73, just ten months before Larry. This scholarship is in memory of Larry and Howard and is for students with a strong desire to become a firefighter.

Criteria:

  • A person living or working  in Rock County who has successfully completed at least one semester toward a Firefighter I or EMT Basic certificate and is pursuing a career as a firefighter. If the applicant has completed Firefighter I or beyond, this scholarship may be used for continuing education related to fire science and/or EMS.
  • The applicant may already be on a fire department.
  • The student’s essay should explain why they have chosen firefighting as a career.
  • The student’s ACT or SAT scores are not relevant to this scholarship.