Scholarship Established in Memory of Pius X Graduate Kyle VerMaas
Family members, colleagues of Lisa and Randy VerMaas, and friends of Kyle Joseph VerMaas ’12 are honoring his life by establishing an endowed scholarship in his memory. The merit-based scholarship will be awarded annually to a graduating Pius X senior having a GPA of 3.5 or above, and planning to attend a 4-year college or university to pursue a Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM) field of study.
Kyle was born October 14, 1993, to Randy and Lisa (Lierz ‘82) VerMaas. He has one brother, Connor ‘13. Kyle attended St. Peter School in Lincoln, and graduated from Pius X in 2012. He loved to read, and his favorite subjects were math and science. While at Pius X, he would challenge himself by taking Advanced Placement classes, and his favorite teachers were the ones who would push him to excel. “Both Kyle and Connor felt that Pius X gave them an excellent education and prepared them well for college,” Lisa says. During high school, Kyle also was inspired to become an organ donor by his fellow classmate, Kathryn Slattery ’12, who was awaiting and ultimately received a life-saving heart and liver transplant.
Kyle passed away following a brief illness on March 16, 2014. At the time of his death, Kyle was a second-year Biological Systems Engineering student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), where he was on the Dean’s List. Kyle loved the engineering program and dreamed of one day developing new bioprosthetics and traveling the world. He had recently been accepted into a program to complete a minor in Spanish by attending a study abroad experience in Toledo, Spain.
“Kyle was mischievous and loved to have a good time,” his mother Lisa shares. “He was fiercely loyal to his family and friends—and he had many.” An avid athlete and outdoorsman, Kyle loved to hunt deer, fish with his father and brother, water ski, wakeboard, play pickup basketball, work out at the gym, and spend time with those who meant most to him. He also was a member of the Newman Center at UNL, where he attended Mass.
“Kyle was not perfect, but he tried hard to always do better,” Lisa reflects. “His Catholic faith kept him grounded.” Prior to his passing, Kyle had shared with his mother that he had attended churches of other faiths and knew that he would always be a practicing Catholic, and thanked his parents for the gift of his Catholic education.
“Kyle would be honored to have a scholarship in his name to help others like him attain a higher education,” Lisa says. “We are proud to be able to offer a scholarship in Kyle’s name that might give a bright, ambitious student some assistance in achieving his or her dreams.”
