Scholarship Fund Created

Stephen B. Dilks, a former Paxton resident, retired technology executive and Knox College graduate, has donated $50,000 to the College to create a scholarship fund named after his father, Sidney Dilks, who practiced law in Paxton for nearly 60 years. The fund will support need-based scholarships for Knox College students, with preference given to students from Paxton and Ford County, Illinois.

Stephen Dilks graduated from Paxton High School in 1964 and earned his bachelor's degree in economics at Knox in 1968. He served for three years in the United States Army, then worked for many years in systems management and product administration for IBM and its subsidiaries. Now retired from IBM, Dilks and his wife Carol, a 1969 Knox graduate, live in Vienna, Virginia. Their daughter, Lindsay Dilks, graduated from Knox in 1997.

Stephen Dilks endowed the scholarship fund in memory of his father, Sidney Dilks, a long-time Paxton attorney who died May 8, 2006, just one month shy of his 100th birthday.

"My father was a remarkable man, who had a remarkable career," Stephen Dilks said, in announcing the scholarship endowment. "He went to college and law school during the Great Depression. But even with a law degree, he had trouble finding work, and for his first year out of law school, 1931-32, he had to sell chickens, eggs and cream."

Sidney Dilks received his bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois and his law degree at St. Louis University. He was elected Ford County State's Attorney from 1932 to 1936, and served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in the South Pacific during World War II. Following the war, he returned to his private law practice in Paxton until retiring in 1990. He also served as president of the Paxton Service Club.

"My father was a believer in education and community service," Dilks said. "His nephews, Michael Morin and Charles Morin, both graduated from Knox -- Michael in 1960 and Charles in 1969 -- and through his help, many other family members, friends and neighbors were able to attend college. I am pleased that the Sidney Barrs Dilks Memorial Scholarship Fund will now enable more students to attend Knox College."

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Sidney B. Dilks