TEMPLE, Texas -- The Temple (Texas) College Foundation on Monday announced a gift of $25,000 to endow the C. E. Fikes (CEFCO) Endowed Scholarship at Temple College.
The gift from Mr. and Mrs. James R. Fikes is in memory of his father, C.E. Fikes, a long-time Central Texas businessman and founder of CEFCO Convenience Stores. A subsidiary of Fikes Wholesale Inc., CEFCO currently owns and operates more than 75 convenience stores in the Central Texas area.
The generous endowment gift by Mr. and Mrs. James Fikes is greatly appreciated, [image-nocss] Rosemary Hauser, Temple College Foundation executive director, said. C.E. Fikes obviously valued education, and the Fikes choose to honor his memory by helping others to gain an education. The earnings from the endowment will be used to award scholarships.
The Temple College Foundation has set a goal for the Scholarship Endowment Fund at $4 million. It is gifts like the Fikes' gift that will help the foundation reach that goal, said Hauser.
The endowment will provide full tuition and fee scholarships to Temple College students beginning in 2008. Application forms will be available in the Temple College Financial Aid Office.
Each recipient must be a full-time student maintaining a 3.0 grade point average. First preference will be given to a student employed by Fikes Wholesale or one of its subsidiaries. Second preference will be given to a student who is a child or grandchild of an employee of Fikes Wholesale or one of its subsidiaries. Third preference will be given to a student working toward an associate's degree in business including accounting, marketing, management, human resources or information technology.
CEFCO unofficially began operations in 1952 as a single Texaco service station in Cameron, Texas. C. E. Fikes, the sole proprietor of this station, and for whom CEFCO is named, gradually turned his attention to the wholesale fuel business. In 1979, Fikes Wholesale began to focus additionally on the retail fuel and grocery business. In 1988, James R. Fikes became president after the death of his father C. E. Fikes. The corporate office moved to Temple in 1994.
To complement CEFCO, Fikes Wholesale also owns and operates several additional companies that include Group Petroleum Services Inc., a petroleum common carrier; CORD Financial Services, an ATM provider; Sunbelt Ice Co., a manufacturer and distributor of ice products; Fleet Fuel Services, a credit card provider for fleet customers, and JF Air Traffic Inc., an air charter service affiliated with Hawker Beechcraft Corp. Fikes Wholesale and its subsidiary companies currently employ more than 900 people in the Central Texas area.
[Pictured: Dr. Marc Nigliazzo, Temple College president, accepts a gift of $25,000 from James R. and Kim Fikes to endow the C. E. Fikes (CEFCO) Endowed Scholarship at Temple College.]
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