Amy Callahan, mother of the late Jake Busch, holds a photo of her son while standing with the first-ever recipients of the Jacob “Jake” Busch Memorial Scholarship. From left are Callahan, Krya Britzke, Joseph “JT” Gober and Michalene Flynn.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Amy Callahan, second from the left, holds a photo of her deceased son, Jake Busch, at a brief ceremony in front of the Wyoming Area Secondary Center. Callahan awarded 2021 graduates a check for $1,019 in honor of her son. From left are Michalene Flynn, Callahan, Krya Britzke, and Joseph “JT” Gober. This was the inaugural year for the Jacob “Jake” Busch Memorial Scholarship.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Kyra Britzke, right, embraces Amy Callahan, mother of the late Jake Busch, prior to receiving Jacob “Jake” Busch Memorial Scholarship of $1,019.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Joseph “JT” Gober, one of three Jacob “Jake” Busch Memorial Scholarship recipients, is about to get a hug from Amy Callahan, mother of Jake Busch, just before she presented Gober with his scholarship check.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
EXETER — As summer comes to a close and school begins, Amy Callahan will wonder what life would have been like if her son, Jacob “Jake” Busch, entered his junior year at Bloomsburg University this fall. Jake tragically lost his life in a car accident, ending his dream of being in law enforcement and shattering his mother’s life forever.
On May 18, 2020, after completing one year of college, that nightmare became a reality for “Wonder Woman,” as Jake referred to his mother, and she lost her “Superman.”
Family and friends of Jake would tell you that he was a great person that was filled with love, compassion, direction and drive. He was well liked by his fellow 2019 classmates at Wyoming Area, and respected by his teammates on the football, baseball, and track teams.
Jake was an outstanding student and leader being involved in Student Council, Key Club, Homecoming Court, and Class Day committee.
He had a great sense of humor, adored his younger sister, Ava, who he protected unconditionally, his parents, Amy and Jody, and was extremely close with all four of his grandparents.
From an early age, Jake knew he wanted to be a Pennsylvania State Trooper after attending the PA State Police Troop P Camp Cadet program at the age of 13.
He eventually enrolled at Bloomsburg, majoring in Criminal Justice, as well as being a member of the Air Force ROTC program.
For Jake, like all accident victims, he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Callahan said.
Unfortunately, the Wyoming Area School District community has seen its share of sorrow over the years with the loss of students and graduates, most due to motor vehicle accidents, and like any community family, special bonds are made through tragedy.
The Brozell, Dushok, Chipolis, Sidari, and the Speicher families all lost children, and in their honor have or had scholarships set up at Wyoming Area.
Callahan was compelled to do so after Jake’s passing with the help of Wyoming Area scholarship chairpersons Rosella Fedor and Juel Anne Klepadlo.
“I was in shell-shock, obviously, I was in disbelief,” Callahan said, when she got word of her son’s death. “But I remember going to the scholarship application meetings with my son when he was a senior and Mr. (Jack) Borzell talked about Beno (Brozell’s son) and I had tears in my eyes thinking of that and I thought, God bless that family. Even with their son’s untimely passing, they are still giving back to the community to honor their son and I was so touched by it.”
Callahan, at that time, could never imagine herself being in the same situation a year later, but because of the Borzell’s influence, she reached out to Fedor and Klepadlo to see how she could honor her son.
“I wanted him to be remembered for who he was and the kind of person that he was and he was very popular and how he wanted to help everyone,” Callahan said. “You could not believe how many letters I received after Jake passed from people he helped along the way.”
Eventually, the first annual Jacob “Jake” Busch Memorial Scholarship was born with the help of Callahan’s entire family as well as support through fundraising and the community’s backing.
The number 19 was significant in Jake’s life, according to Callahan. He graduated in 2019, his jersey number was 19, and he lost his life at the age of 19. On July 19, 2021, Callahan presented checks to three 2021 Wyoming Area graduates in the amount of $1019.
Joseph Gober, Michalene Flynn and Kyra Britzke were present in front of the Wyoming Area Secondary Center to receive their scholarship checks.
“It is an honor to receive the Jacob Busch Memorial Scholarship because I was chosen out of so many applicants,” Gober said. “Jake was a very good friend of mine throughout high school, so winning this award feels like a piece of him will live on.”
Krya Britzke agreed with Gober, also thanking the scholarship chairs.
“I want to thank Mrs. Fedor and Mrs. Klepadlo for helping me so much throughout the whole scholarship process,” Britzke said. “Amy, I am honored that you chose me as one of the recipients to carry on Jake’s memory, thank you again.”
Michalene Flynn said, “It’s an honor to have received this memorial scholarship. I just want to thank the family for their generous donation as well as everyone who worked hard to organize these scholarships for all of us students. I am truly grateful for your consideration.”
Callahan said she would like her son’s scholarship to continue as long as possible and will schedule fundraisers throughout the year with one coming this fall in helping raise money.
“We are indebted to all the donors to Jake’s scholarship,” Callahan said. “The scholarship program is a wonderful program at Wyoming Area and what they have done with our scholarship and how they believe in it, it’s just a great program. Giving back through the scholarship is just what Jake would have wanted.”
For further information on any of the Wyoming Area scholarships available, or if you are interested in donating to the Jacob “Jake” Busch Memorial Scholarship, call the Wyoming Area guidance department at the Secondary Center.
