Memorial service planned for 2012 graduate
Scholarship for STEM education for MTHS seniors to be created in Colombana’s name
A memorial service is planned for 2012 graduate Ethan Colombana for 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Edmonds Lutheran Church. Colombana died unexpectedly on Jan. 4 from a seizure and a previously undiagnosed heart condition, according to a statement released by Colombana’s family.
An open casket viewing was held for Colombana at Beck’s Funeral Home in Edmonds on Jan 8. While at Terrace, Colombana was active in various activities, including drama, orchestra and Project Lead the Way, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education initiative.
Colombana was a junior at Purdue University in Indiana, studying computer science. According to the family statement, Colombana “was constantly surrounded by those that shared his love for technology, and made friends easily.”
According to the statement, Colombana “is survived by his parents, Nat and Amy Colombana; his siblings Brian (Danissa), Kevin (Bethany), Rachel (Gustavo), Camille Penksa (Tony) and Aidan; many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins: Nana Jill Colombana: God-parents Martin and Judy Banel: the love of his life Amber Hamman; and more family and friends than can be counted.”
Colombana’s family is establishing an annual $500 scholarship in his name to be awarded to “college bound STEM seniors from MTHS.”
The family request that donations be made to the “Ethan Colombana Memorial Scholarship Fund” through BECU. There will be receiving baskets at the memorial service.
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Nick Fiorillo is the Editor-in-Chief of the Hawkeye and thehawkeye.org. This is Nick's second year of serving as editor. Last year, he led the Hawkeye in one of the organization's most dramatic transformations in decades, replacing the broadsheet newspaper with a feature based newsmagazine and an emphasis on online content.
Prior to serving as editor-in-chief, Nick was the local news editor during his sophomore year and was a staff reporter during his freshman year.
Nick was named as the 2014 Free Spirit Scholar from Washington state, and traveled to Washington, D.C. as the Washington state delegate to the 2014 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference. He has received several state and national awards for journalism, including several JEA National Write-off Competition Awards. He was recently awarded the rating of "Superior" for Editorial Writing at the Spring 2014 JEA/NSPA High School Journalism Conference in San Diego, Calif.
His interests include journalism, politics, public policy, law and education. He plans on attending a four-year university and majoring in political science and social policy.
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