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Estate of Victoria High School alum donates $123,000 to fund post-secondary studies

Laura Gardom’s son says not being able to carry on her studies was a lifelong regret
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The estate of Laura Gardom, pictured, donated a historic amount to Victoria High School. (Victoria News file photo)

A donation of $123,000 to Victoria High School will annually help graduates pursue post-secondary education.

The estate of Laura Gardom donated the amount, the largest single donation ever made to the school. Gardom was a class of 1940 alumnus who herself was prevented from a post-secondary education by family circumstances.

The amount will be awarded annually in three bursaries of $1,000, increasing by $100 every four years to account for inflation. The first will be given out June 14 at the school’s virtual award ceremony, to a student going on to attend post-secondary who has good academic standing.

Ron Davis, Gardom’s son, said anyone who knew his mother knew how important education was to her.

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“She loved her years at Vic High,” Davis said. “But her father died young and in a single-parent family in the 1930s, resources just weren’t there for further education. Not being able to carry on her studies was a lifelong regret.”

Gardom’s family emigrated to California in the 1950s, but made frequent trips to Victoria. She and her son would trace the paths of both their childhoods past the Empress Hotel and the Crystal Garden, and walk from her home on David Street to Beacon Hill Park via Government Street, and back via Douglas Street.

The Laura Gardom estate also donated $18,000 to Sir James Douglas elementary school; the full cost of a pre-COVID planned outdoor classroom that is now being built ahead of schedule next to the school.

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