Monrovia Mother Awards Scholarship in Son’s Name

Mrs. Toni King congratulates Diana Ortiz, who was awarded a scholarship in memory of Anthony King, Jr. which focuses on graduating high school students in the San Gabriel Valley.

By Kristie Tom

On June 17, the seniors of Monrovia High School sat in their seats at Citrus College, anxiously awaiting the moment in which they could finally throw their graduation caps in the air, officially commemorating their leave from MHS. Throughout the night, many were awarded with honors of national merit, gold seals, and silver seals, but only one was awarded the first annual Anthony King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship: Diana Ortiz, who wrote an essay on the subject of “Seeing it Through.” The scholarship, founded in loving memory of Anthony King, Jr., focuses on graduating high school students in the San Gabriel Valley, offering a financial award to help them purchase their books during their first year of college.
Anthony was born on April 6, 1983, graduated from MHS in the Class of 2001, and went on to Citrus College before transferring to Benedict College, a historically black college in South Carolina. On July 22, 2009, at the young age of 26, Anthony suffered from a bilateral pulmonary aneurism. His death was instantaneous. As a junior at Benedict College, Anthony was majoring in English and studying to be a teacher through the “Call Me Mister” program, which is dedicated to African American males and helps people work in underserved communities. His charity work was fully supported by his family, and especially encouraged by Toni King, his mother, who said, “When you are raising your family, you can only hope that they become upstanding citizens [like Anthony], ready to leave a mark on the world.” Anthony, who would have graduated in the class of 2011 to go on to become a teacher, was affectionately known as Big Macc in South Carolina, where he had already touched the lives of many. A special service, in addition to the one at Second Baptist Church, in which the attendance reached an astounding 200 people, was held in South Carolina for Anthony in order to honor his memory in the community in which he would have had a large impact. At the local memorial, friends and family gathered to pay respects, and Jennifer Bryant, that year’s recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award at MHS, spoke dearly of Anthony, as did Debbie Collins, a long time educator and administrator of the Monrovia Unified School District.
The King family, who moved to Monrovia in 1985, also produced two other graduates of MHS—Aaron, Class of 2005, and Andrew, Class of 2008. They played active roles in the community, and their home was “always full of friends, family, and visitors, but it was not until Anthony’s service that I realized that he had, in his short 26 years, made a difference. This young man had touched the lives of many.”
Mrs. King, who described her son as a “gentle giant, who loved to laugh and make others laugh,” did not fully realize the influence that Anthony had, until one of his classmates from Columbia told her, “I did not know Macc long—all I know is that he changed me.” Benedict College offered the King family a certificate of completion in honor of Anthony, and the President of the college, Dr. David Holmes Swinton, told the family that Benedict College’s students are “powers for good” in society—and that Anthony had now transcended into “a power for good forever.”
Mrs. King incorporated this into the Anthony King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship by making “A power for good forever” the foundation’s motto. Its mission, to live each day with purpose, faith, and confidence, knowing all things are possible, is embodied in the continual remembrance of Anthony by his family in the community. In order to be eligible for the scholarship, the graduating seniors had to complete an application and submit a 500-word essay based on Anthony’s favorite poem, “See It Through,” by Edgar A. Guest. Anthony wrote to his mother shortly before his death, attaching this poem, and explaining that “things get hard sometimes, but I remember all the support I have and how I can’t let anyone down—including myself.”
Diana, the recipient of this award, said in her essay that “hope is what induces me to persevere above all.” Although he is no longer here, Anthony continues to encourage students in the community to press forward to achieve their goals through the scholarship that his family created in his memory. In the words of Anthony: “Love, peace, and chicken grease.”

More from Arcadia Weekly