Hill City, Kans., July 29, 2025 – The Hill City, Kansas, High School Alumni Scholarship Program (HCHSASP) has announced that this year’s winner of the annual Edna Dean Harrell Family Scholarship is Hannah Lee. She is a 2025 graduate of Hill City High and was awarded $5,000 to support her continuing education. She received the initial award this summer and will receive additional money in the following semesters. Under the rules of the Alumni Association, Hannah must maintain a 3.0 grade point average to receive continuing assistance.

The scholarship winner is chosen annually by the HCHSASP and Mrs. Harrell’s son, Dan Harrell. The scholarship was established in 2009, just weeks after the passing of Mrs. Harrell, making Hannah the 17th winner so far.

Originally established as a yearly $1,000 scholarship for a deserving Hill City High graduate to continue their education, the amount has increased steadily to its current award of $5,000 annually. In total, the scholarship has provided the 17 winners with more than $60,000 in educational assistance so far.

In 2015, the year of Mrs. Harrell’s 100^th birthday, Mr. Harrell pledged $100,000 to his family’s scholarship; whatever amount he raises independently will be augmented from his personal funds to provide $5,000 per year to completely fund the award.

Hannah Completes Exemplary Academic History – Hannah spent all eight high school semesters at Hill City High, finishing sixth in her class with a cumulative grade point average of 3.71. In four years, she completed 24.5 hours of credits, fulfilled a demanding set of classes, from mathematics to government to history, nutrition, physics, four years of English, and a semester as a teacher’s aide.

Hannah commuted more than 25 miles round-trip to Hill City for school from Morland, her hometown. She also worked as an aide at Dawson Place (a retirement community in Hill City) and was a lifeguard at the local pool for several years.

A recipient of several glowing recommendations, one had this to say about Hannah: “[Hannah] has a very strong work ethic. She is respectful of others, works well with her colleagues, and is willing to help out when asked. I believe Hannah will go far in life and will accomplish anything she puts her mind to.”

Hannah “Extremely Grateful” For Scholarship Assistance – Hannah, who will begin her professional journey this fall at Fort Hays State (Hays, Kans.), was exuberantly thankful to learn she had won the scholarship. “I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to receive this scholarship,” she said. “I am planning to attend Fort Hays State University in the fall, where I will study Human Health and Performance and get my bachelor’s degree. After I get my bachelor’s degree, I plan on pursuing Physical Therapy.”

She continued, “Receiving this scholarship makes me feel accomplished. I get the opportunity to learn and gain knowledge about the EDHF scholarship. With this scholarship, I will also be able to further my education. So, thank you. I will use the scholarship money primarily for college for dorm room expenses, tuition, and fees, etc. I've always stressed about how I would be able to pay for college, but I've applied for many scholarships and I'm glad to say that I feel much better about going to school in the fall. I cannot say thank you enough for this opportunity. So, thank you again!

Hannah was chosen from several finalists, who are required to submit an application, high school coursework and grades, athletic, work, or other extracurricular activities, a personal reference, and three essays describing their inspirations, why they deserve the award, and to confess a mistake they have made and how they resolved the issue.

Brianna Deenihan was the inaugural winner of the Harrell Scholarship in 2009. Since then, the winners have been: Emily Gansel (2010), Morgan Cade (2011), Stephanie Strathman (2012), Shelby Stewart (2013), Karel Schulz (2014), Whitney Herman (2015), Amanda Conway (2016), Autumn Cox (2017), Shaelynn VanLoenen (2018), Ryonna McWilliams (2019), Jacelynn Lemon (2020), Abby Smith (2021), Toria Larson (2022), Kaylee Richmeier (2023), and Michelle Richmeier (2024).

Mrs. Harrell graduated from Hill City High in 1932. She was born on a farm east of Hill City in 1915 and resided in western Kansas and around Hill City for all but about 13 of her nearly 94 years of life. For all but a few months of her first 18 years, Mrs. Harrell lived in a farmhouse four miles south and two miles west of Hill City. Many days, she commuted to school on horseback or by horse-and-carriage. She resided in Hays, about 45 miles from Hill City, the majority of her final 30 years. In her long life, Mrs. Harrell witnessed first-hand the world-changing events of the 20^th Century, including some of the most challenging times this country has ever endured. Born at the outset of World War I, she grew up without electricity or indoor plumbing, and survived the Great Depression, the Dust Bowls, and World War II, not to mention near-poverty, emotional anguish, and health problems.

Mrs. Harrell was a lifelong champion of education, a proponent of equal rights, and an outspoken defender of women’s rights. After retiring as a nurse practitioner and medical caregiver, Mrs. Harrell became a tireless volunteer for nearly three decades. She could be found lending her hands wherever needed, but was particularly focused on Foster Grandparents, elementary-school tutoring, and spending “quality” time with those facing the end of life in nursing homes. “My mother’s approach to helping people was pragmatic, not academic,” said her son Dan Harrell. “She looked for ways to help people not just face, but enjoy their day-to-day lives, whether that meant studying math with a struggling 10-year-old, reading a humorous story to a group of 95-year-olds, or making popcorn and renting a movie to show a disabled shut-in. She never stopped thinking of others.”

At the age of 84, Mrs. Harrell learned how to use a computer. Until her eyesight failed in her 91^st year, she used email to keep in closer contact with her dozens of friends and family, and word processing so she could better pursue her lifelong practice and love of writing. At 86, Mrs. Harrell published the book “Poetry and Prose,” a collection of poems and life experiences with annotations describing her feelings at the moment she wrote the piece. The initial printing sold out in just a few months and is now out of print. However, it is available at Hill City, Hays, and other libraries throughout Kansas and the US. It is also now part of the prestigious permanent Kansas Collections in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.

In 1965, Mrs. Harrell was a driving force in establishing the Hill City High Alumni Association and occupied leadership positions in the organization for more than two dozen years. Helping to create the Alumni Association was one of her proudest accomplishments. She wrote the column “Your Classmates and Mine” for the Hill City Times for more than 20 years. She had three sons, James and Kenneth, both now deceased, and Daniel. All three also graduated from Hill City High. She remained a strong “Ringneck” supporter all her life. Her collections of Hill City, Hill City High, and western Kansas memorabilia were presented to the Graham County Historical Society, and various pieces can be seen at their museum in Hill City.

Announcing the award, Dan Harrell commented, “Hannah is a perfect candidate who more than qualifies for the scholarship. The excellent rules require candidates to submit a lot of information and do some original writing, too. That takes more time to review but also gives you a clearer picture of the candidates, their goals, and their outlook on life.”

“In the end,” Harrell said, “Hannah emerged as the clear winner. She exemplifies the values and purpose that the Harrell Scholarship stands for – love of education, constant striving to be and know more, giving back to the community, and wanting to follow a career path that serves others. Her pursuit of a healthcare career gave her an added advantage as that path most honors my mother’s lifelong work.”

Harrell adds, “Hannah’s intelligence and perseverance are evident in all her academic and work activities. My mom would be very happy to know such an outstanding young woman, and that Hannah is continuing her legacy of caring about and wanting to help others.”

Hannah is the daughter of Barnaby and Melissa Lee. She has three siblings, Noah (20), Grace (19), and Joshua (16). She will be writing to us again later this year, after her first semester, to describe how she spent the scholarship money and to give us her first impressions of life away from home, Harrell said. In addition, Hannah has agreed to help raise awareness of and money for future HCHSASP scholarships.