Kaplan Family Established Scholarship To Remember Daughter

A Kaplan family has decided to establish an annual scholarship as a way to remember their daughter, Mia Trahan.

Mia's father, Kendrick Trahan, says his daughter died on January 8th in Lake Charles.  He says she was attending McNeese State University in Lake Charles for registered nursing, and she had also graduated from the Gulf Area campus of South Louisiana Community College in Abbeville as a practical nurse.

Law enforcement found the bodies of 25-year-old Mia Trahan and 32-year-old Kody Fontenot of Branch in an a duplex in Lake Charles in January, and they believe she was the victim after a murder-suicide.

The Mia Trahan Memorial Scholarship will be available to students in the final semester or year of practical nursing at the Abbeville campus.  The program will begin taking applications on March 15th, and the deadline to apply for the scholarship is May 1st, 2014.

Kendrick Trahan says,

"Mia's passion was helping people. We want to remember Mia by helping a student who shares her passion about healthcare. We want to see this student through to their success."

Trahan says his daughter was lively and passionate about health care.  He says she spent time in several health care programs at the Abbeville campus until she settled on nursing.

In addition to winning the $1,000 scholarship, the family wants to attend the scholarship winner's pinning ceremony which is the traditional event set aside to honor graduating nursing students.

Any students who would like to apply for the scholarship can go to SLCC's website and click on Student Scholarships under Quick Links.