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Feature

Easy Rider Endowment

A non-grad extends a hand to the U of A in honour of her father.

By Kim Green

April 29, 2011 •

A non-grad lends a helping hand to students in memory of her motorcycle-riding, U of A-attending father

Although no one could ever accuse Carol Milo of letting moss grow on her, she is rather partial to the peaty version of this cryptogamous plant of the class Musci. In fact, when initially called for this story, Carol was in the garden of her Duncan, BC, home where, she says, "I'm always gardening. Today I'm trying to remove some Himalayan blackberries."

Carol sold her other house last year and moved into a condo. But having no backyard wasn't for her, so she rented out the condo and found another "small house with a nice garden." But it's not just the garden that keeps her busy. "I go out with people to plant willow whips along streams to help prevent erosion of the stream banks," says Carol. "One of my specializations is in stream restoration." She's also got a weekend workshop on bioengineering coming up at the University of Victoria, where she's working towards a diploma in environmental studies that will complement her science degree in biochemistry from the University of Calgary and her bachelor of education degree from UVic.

The fact that she has degrees from two other universities raises an interesting question: Why would she choose to establish the Vincent P. Milo Memorial Scholarship at the University of Alberta rather than at schools she appears to be more closely affiliated with?

"When my dad passed away and there was some estate money, I wanted to give to the U of A because that's where my dad went," she says. " It seemed like the right thing to do."

The scholarship is named after her father, Vincent Paul Milo, '49 (BSc ChemEng). "My father was in the oil business," Carol says. "At first he was based in Edmonton, where I started school and lived until I was 12. Then we moved to Calgary. I got my bachelor of science in Calgary, and I was accepted in the education program at both Edmonton and Calgary, but then my parents moved to Victoria, and I decided to stay near them and enter the UVic program. Circumstances being slightly different, I probably would have gone to the U of A. It's a good school, and I have a strong family connection with it, and my family has a historical connection to Alberta."

That historical connection to Alberta dates back to 1904. Carol's not certain, but she knows her grandfather, who was born in 1898 or '99, was either six or seven when he arrived with his parents from Campolieto, Italy. Fresh off the boat, the family settled in Crowsnest Pass, AB.

"I heard different stories about what they did," says Carol. "I think my great-grandfather had a store. There was even a rumour that he kept a bear. But he died quite young and left behind eight kids, so my grandfather had to start earning money to support the family when he was only 12 or 13 years old. He worked for the railway at first and then went into the coal mines and became a mining electrician. He also used to wire houses on the side."

The family was living in Drumheller, AB, when Carol's father-to-be learned he'd been accepted into the U of A engineering program. So, as Carol says, he took the train "up country" to Edmonton and worked during the summer to pay for his tuition.

"He worked in Ontario one summer," Carol recalls. "He got a job at the INCO smelter in Sudbury. He drove all the way out there on his motorcycle. I'm pretty sure it was a Harley, and I remember as a kid that he still had some of his motorcycle gear."

"I know that I wouldn't have had the opportunity that I had if not for my dad's education."

But it's not as an easy-riding, freedom-chasing motorcycle enthusiast that Vincent Milo will be remembered. Carol says that his graduating from the U of A was basically a turning point in her family's story. He was the first person in the extended family to earn a university degree.

"My dad's life was so much different than what came before him," she says.

"Life can be such a struggle. My grandfather arrived here with no money and then got hit by a war, the Great Depression and then another world war. But he laid the groundwork for my dad to get a degree from the U of A and then do his master's degree in the U.S. I know that I wouldn't have had the opportunity that I had if not for my dad's education."

Now she wants to pay that opportunity forward. The Vincent P. Milo Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to a student with superior academic achievement in the chemical engineering undergraduate degree program. The recipient is selected on the basis of academic achievement.

Carol also has a life insurance policy that the U of A is the beneficiary and owner of. In time, funds from the insurance policy will top up the award established in memory of her father.

"I hope this scholarship makes it easier for students to get an education, especially ones who are in the upper ends of the class, as my father was. It's also my hope that anyone who has the interest and ability to enter engineering won't be held back because of finances.

"It's nice for me as well," laughs Carol. "I get these letters every year from people who've been helped. It's nice to see it in action. My dad's been gone for a long time now." Carol pauses for a moment to savour a memory. "It's nice to give back in his name."

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