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MURFREESBORO – The legacy of the late Rod and Gertrude Jordan has remained intact for nearly 30 years.

Prior to their deaths, the couple established the Jordan Charitable Trust in order to allow young people from their beloved Northampton County to get off on their right foot as they began the next chapter of their educational lives at a college or university.

The first scholarships from the Trust were awarded in 1994.

“We are still awarding this scholarship every year,” said Mary Etta Flowers, the current Chair of the R.J and Gertrude B. Jordan Charitable Trust. “It’s $500 per semester for a total of $1,000 for the school year.”

Joining Flowers as members of the scholarship’s board of trustees are Sandra E. Woodard, Paige B. Pinnix, Jonell S. Little, and Charles A. Pfeiffer.

Flowers said the criteria to apply for a Jordan Scholarship remains the same: a student has to attend a four-year college or university, and the student must reside in Northampton County.

The scholarship is renewable for each year the student maintains good grades.

All area schools have applications or they can be obtained by contacting the Revelle & Lee Law firm in Murfreesboro at 252-398-4171. Those applications are due no later than June 15 and can be mailed to Jordan Scholarship Committee, P.O. Box 448, Murfreesboro, NC 27855.

Rod Jordan was a farmer, born and raised in the Severn / Margarettsville area of Northampton County. Gertrude Jordan, who was born and raised in the Eagletown (Rich Square) area of the county, was a public schoolteacher.

The couple did not have any children. They directed that their life savings – which at the time of their deaths amounted to nearly $800,000 – be placed into a trust from where annual scholarships would be awarded to assist college-bound students from Northampton County.