Danita Fruechte Memorial Scholarship

How to describe Danita, brilliant, smart, empathetic, and generous, a rare combination. I first met her in May of 1982 when my current roommate was moving to Madison, and I needed a new roommate. When she came to look at the apartment on Vine Street, we immediately clicked on so many levels. We both loved horses and riding. We loved animals in general, she dogs, I cats, but I introduced her to cats, so she became a cat-lover too. We both were environmentalists, spending time outdoors hiking, biking, canoeing, snow-shoeing, and cross-country skiing. We were both small, almost the same size, and could wear each other’s clothes easily if needed. This especially came in handy for our annual Halloween Party. We were both into Art, I had an Art Education degree, and she had a Commercial Art degree. We both specialized in photography.

She was, if not brilliant, smart, way smarter than me. Science and Technology came easily to her. She understood chemistry, going so far as to tutor students in it at Western Technical College. Whereas I only managed a C in college chemistry and that with great effort and perseverance. She understood the inner workings of the camera, using close-up senses and color filters. Whereas I look for the perfect shot, preferably one that didn’t move, and just took it. She was a problem solver. When she saw a problem during her Radiology internship with children screaming and crying, making it difficult to get an x-ray, she came up with a solution. She and her dad built an x-ray machine shaped like a rocket ship with a steering wheel and knobs to turn. It kept them busy, too busy to cry, so it worked! But it was not patentable. She even had it placed for a time in the Children’s Department of the Iowa City Hospital where her brother, Dan, was interning as a Doctor of Radiology. It was this brother, Dan, who suggested she try the field of Radiology. And when he moved on, she and I brought it back to La Crosse. I believe she took it with her to her first job in Ivanhoe, MN, and then later to Bullhead City, AZ. She also told me she built a type of table clamp to solve a different problem in one of her jobs. She was a visionary, who could also build what she envisioned. When she had a gap year during her pursuit of a Radiology degree, she decided to get a Phlebotomy certificate, which came in handy when she worked in the hospital in Ivanhoe, a small town with a small hospital.

She was both empathetic and generous. She always looked out for me as her roommate and later through our 28-year friendship. I considered her my “best friend". She was a better athlete than I was, being hampered by a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis at age 19. We biked together, but she never made me feel like I was slowing her down as others had done. The keyword is “Together” in the biking hiking, skiing, canoeing, that we did. The empathy she displayed for me was seamless, never obvious. She volunteered as a Big Sister while in La Crosse, having two Little Sisters. Being raised as the only girl in her family, with two older brothers Dan and Kevin, she saw the need for the Big Sister program and being a female role model to her Little Sisters. She took on the care of a lady who had been abused in the past, adding Red Cross certification to her list of qualifications. She always did whatever needed to be done to do the job. Not only did she provide a home, bed, and meals for this individual, but she took her along to baseball and volleyball games that she either attended or played in. She shared her life treating her as a friend.
When in Ivanhoe, the hospital there needed an EMT, so she went to school and became certified as one. She also told me she learned how to write requests for grants. She was always about getting things done even if she had to do it all herself. That’s when her Phlebotomy certification came in handy.

Once she moved to Arizona, due to her severe allergies, she did not make it home to La Crosse very often. So, I know less about her activities. I know she helped homeless people sometimes. And on a hiking trip to New Mexico, she discovered some Native Americans who had wonderful crafts to sell but no knowledge of computers and the internet so she stayed and taught them how to use the computer and the internet so could market their handcrafts to a wider audience. She made a second trip later to help them further. They must’ve thought of her as a visiting angel. She would not ask for anything in return. By then she would’ve been financially comfortable, and I think she bought some of their craft to help them out even more. She was the Energizer Bunny!

My reason for creating this scholarship is to recognize Danita’s brilliance/smarts and her empathy and generosity. Because of these attributes, she had the potential to change the world and for the better. Some see empathy and generosity as a drawback to getting ahead in the world, but Danita proves them wrong. Once got into the Radiology field there was no stopping her. I want her to be recognized for what she accomplished in her short life (50 years). Recognition she did not receive from her family or even her friends, me included, during her lifetime. Do not get me wrong, she was not perfect! She tended to focus so much on one thing that she frequently forgot other commitments. And she tended to over-commit to helping people because she couldn’t say ‘no’ to a friend in need. She often showed up hours late to activities with her friends because of this tendency but in the these are minor flows compared to her generosity of spirit and ability to problem-solve. Although she struggled to find her direction in life (perhaps being good at multiple things is a drawback), once she was pointed in the direction of Radiology, she just took off like a rocket ship. It’s the best thing her brother, Dan, ever did for her! Now it’s time to recognize what she did accomplish and acknowledge the fact that had she lived, she could’ve done so much more.

Learn all that you can and remain empathetic to others, just as Danita did and shoot for the stars. I’m sure if she had lived, she would be creating a scholarship of her own like this one.