Memorial Scholarship Established In Memory Of Nicholas Lauerwald

MAHWAH, N.J. — More than $13,000 has been donated to the Nicholas Lauerwald Memorial Scholarship Fund since the 17-year-old's tragic death in a car crash Saturday.

The Lauerwald family started the YouCaring page for the fund, which Board of Education trustee and family friend Suzanne Curry said would be combined with the $25,863 donated on a GoFundMe campaign Lauerwald's friend Dylan Pfeifer started. Pfeifer started the campaign to purchase T-shirts and bracelets in Lauerwald's memory.

"Even in their grief, the Lauerwald Family was thinking of others. They assumed people would want to send flowers or do something and just hours after they lost their son they said they wanted to start a scholarship fund in his name. Nicholas would have liked that," said Board of Education trustee Suzanne Curry, a longtime friend of the Lauerwald family.

Curry said Pfeifer's GoFundMe page is expected to be taken down Tuesday. She noted that no parameters have been set regarding the scholarship, including the number of students the money would be distributed to, but that "many" high school students would be able to receive funds.

RELATED: Mahwah Community Remembers Nicholas Lauerwald

Hundreds of people, mostly high school students, attended a candlelight memorial service in Lauerwald's memory Monday night. Dozens of bouquets of flowers, candles, and other items were placed at his space in the high school parking lot. Visitation and funeral services for Lauerwald are Thursday and Friday.

Photo courtesy of Katarina Radisic

"I think I can speak for the Lauerwald Family and say that they are already overwhelmed by everyone's outpouring of compassion and generosity," Curry said.

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Photo: Nicholas Lauerewald and his mother, Eva Marie — Courtesy of Suzanne Curry