Henry remembered as a life-changer

Twenty-five years ago, Alberta Henry helped Holly Fiefia find her first job.

Now, Fiefia's daughter's college dream is a reality, thanks in large part to a scholarship fund Henry created.

"When my daughter said she really wanted to go college, I said we're going to make it happen," said Fiefia, who knew her daughter, LaChelle, would need financial aid.

The Alberta Henry scholarship form was the last form completed after months of exhausting paperwork.

"When we got the letter . . . that LaChelle got the scholarship, I was so happy, I was crying," Fiefia said. "I said, 'God has blessed us . . . you can go to college and make her proud.' "

Alberta Henry, who served 12 years as president of the Salt Lake Branch NAACP, died Wednesday. Her scholarship fund, the Alberta Henry Education Foundation, continues to help low-income youths pay for college.

LaChelle Fiefia just finished her freshman year studying nursing at the University of Utah, something her mother says wouldn't be possible without the $1,000 annual Alberta Henry scholarship and another Utah Opportunities scholarship.

For LaChelle Fiefia, who works during the summer, "the best thing is I don't have to put that burden on my parents . . . I don't have to work. I can focus on my studies."

Henry established the Albert Henry Education Foundation in 1967 after visiting area black Baptist churches as president of the Women's Association of the Utah and Idaho Baptist Association.

"The (young people) weren't going to school," Henry recalled in a 1997 interview. "It was then I felt like the Lord was directing me to one thing: helping these kids get an education."

While there's no official count, more than 200 people are on the list of past scholarship recipients, according to Harvey Boyd, foundation treasurer and past scholarship recipient.

Boyd recalled that Henry "just started collecting money from local black churches." She helped a few black students in the early 1960s before she "decided to formalize it, and set it up as a nonprofit."

The fund is unique, Boyd said, because it's open to any low-income student from Utah, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. It's also unique because the board of directors serves a mentoring role for students who receive scholarships.