Howard and Sylvia DeVries Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Accounting

Patricia D. Gold established The Howard and Sylvia DeVries Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Accounting in 2022 to honor her parents, Howard and Sylvia DeVries, who sent all three of their children to The University of Akron for their undergraduate degrees. In their memory she wishes to help students achieve their own educational success. Patricia is a 1972 UA alumna who earned a bachelor’s degree in French. As a student, she was a member of the UA Orchestra for two years. In 1979, she earned a master’s degree in Library Science from Kent State University and worked at the Akron Public Library for several years prior to her marriage and subsequent move to Columbus, Ohio, in 1981.

Howard DeVries was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1915. He received the bookkeeping award upon graduation from high school with hopes of becoming an accountant. He began taking college classes at night but had to stop to help support his family due to the Great Depression. He never had another opportunity to pursue his dream of being an accountant.

Howard held various jobs in the New York City area, using his skills in typing, shorthand and bookkeeping as well as his keen aptitude for sales. He met and married his wife, Sylvia, in 1942 before being drafted shortly after and sent to a U.S. Army base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Sylvia, born and raised in Akron, obtained a secretarial degree from a local business college. She followed Howard to Wyoming, and subsequently to the east coast; always obtaining work as a secretary before Howard shipped overseas for three years. During WW II, Sylvia worked at Goodyear Aerospace until Howard’s discharge in 1945. He then began working with Sylvia’s father selling produce at various outdoor locations in northeast Ohio. He did this for 50 years, stopping at age 80. He returned to work at Acme # 1 at age 81 and continued until he was 90.

Recipients of The Howard and Sylvia DeVries Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Accounting shall be full- or part-time students enrolled in The University of Akron College of Business George W. Daverio School of Accountancy. Recipients must be a junior or senior in the College, be in good standing at the University, and carry a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA). Selection will be made by the George W. Daverio School of Accountancy scholarship committee.