Rich Bauscher honors late wife by creating scholarship

Long-time Idaho educator Rich Bauscher turned grief from the death of his wife into action. He and his three children created a scholarship foundation in the name of LiNae Bauscher, who died from ALS in 2024.

The scholarships are intended for Idaho high school seniors who plan to attend an Idaho college or university.

“We made the decision that LiNae would like to honor education,” Rich Bauscher said. “She was born and raised in Idaho, so we decided it would be given to Idaho kids.”

LiNae Bauscher’s diagnosis came in July 2023, after months of unexplained throat pain. The family was hopeful it was a minor issue, but doctors announced the diagnosis of ALS and estimated she had about 15 months to live.

“She took that a lot better than me and our three children,” Rich Bauscher said.

Before her illness, LiNae Bauscher went to almost all of her grandchildren’s sporting and school events.

Rich Bauscher, 73, was the superintendent at the Kimberly and Middleton school districts before retiring in 2016.

He and his three children — Mistie, 44, Matthew, 41, and Megan, 35 — shared the desire to honor LiNae Bauscher’s legacy through a scholarship foundation.

Rich Bauscher was initially unsure how to navigate the legal and financial steps needed to establish a foundation. Son Matthew Bauscher came to the rescue. With a background in finance and real estate, he registered the LiNae Bauscher Foundation as a 501(c)(3), a year after her passing.

“I surprised my dad and sisters with a check that our kids held,” Matthew Bauscher said. “Everybody got really emotional knowing mom would have loved that.”

Bauscher grandchildren hold a check blank to use as a scholarship gift in remembrance of their grandmother.

The Bauscher family made the decision to focus on Idaho teens going to Idaho colleges.

“Hopefully they have the skills that they can live in Idaho, and they’re not forced out because of cost of living and lack of opportunities,” Matthew Bauscher said.

The foundation collected over $40,000 from 25 donors in under seven months. The money has supported 11 scholarship recipients.

On April 1, the Bauscher family opened an application to prospective or current Idaho college students and received just short of 100 by the end of the month. The family interviewed 11 finalists to estimate how much each would get.

“We did a round robin of drilling them with questions,” Matthew Bauscher said.

The application asked for GPA, extracurriculars and college choice, to name a few.

But the criteria went deeper than scores.

They wanted to ensure the finalists did their research on ALS and LiNae Bauscher’s life. One of those questions related to her favorite song, a Grammy-winning hit by Tim McGraw, named “Humble and Kind.”

“I asked for an example of where they would show how they use humble and kind as something you would parallel what LiNae did throughout her life,” Rich Bauscher said.

Charli Russell, an 18-year-old high school senior at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, stood out as the top recipient. She is the student body president, captain of the volleyball team and a 4.0 student.

“Charli was really outgoing, and her interview was completely top notch from start to finish,” Rich Bauscher said.

The family surprised Charli at her school with a $10,000 check to Boise State University on Wednesday, which should cover her first two years.

The Bauscher family surrounds Charli Russell, an 18-year-old high school senior at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian. She was awarded a college scholarship.

The family plans on making scholarships available annually to high school seniors.

Rich Bauscher sees the process as an opportunity to also strengthen interview skills.

“If you interview for something, the same thing holds true,” Rich Bauscher said. “You need to spend the hours that you possibly can on studying everything.”