Yvonne Dial Family Memorial
Yvonne Dial married her childhood sweetheart, Thomas “Tom” Dial, in June of 1960. They attended Shelley High School together, and Thomas credits his success and perseverance in college, and in his law career to Yvonne’s encouragement, support, sacrifice and hard work. In their early married years, Yvonne worked long hours at a local drug store in order to support their household, while Thomas attended ISU as a pre-law student.Yvonne also took night classes three to four nights every week until she was hired as a secretary at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (now INL). As their lives progressed and their successes grew,
Yvonne was diagnosed with lymphoma and told she had one year to live. Despite the prognosis and stress, Yvonne pushed Thomas to complete his studies and finish what they had both worked so hard to accomplish. Thomas graduated law school in 1967.
Thomas and Yvonne went on for another 15 years, and had two children together, Paul and Tami. When Yvonne passed away in 1980, Thomas established a scholarship in memoriam to commemorate her life and honor her impact on him and others.
Thomas and his children, Paul and Tami, along with Thomas’s wife Gail, have continued supporting this scholarship with the intention to support non-traditional students experiencing challenges, but through hard work, perseverance and sacrifice, have continued pursuit of higher education.