STARKVILLE, Miss.--The life of 5-year-old Ella Marie Formby is being memorialized through a new scholarship established at Mississippi State.
The Sumrall resident died of injuries sustained in an early February automobile accident. She was traveling with her parents, Lourie and Julie, when an allegedly drunk driver struck their vehicle.
A kindergartener at Sumrall Elementary School, Formby is being remembered as an energetic, loving girl who was full of life and innocence.
Friends of the Formby family have established the university scholarship to honor her life and memory.
Their expressed hope is for the message of Ella's life to offer insight and call attention to drinking and driving, one of the nation's most widespread problems, as well as to enable her memory to influence many future generations of college students.
The Formby family has deep MSU ties. Ella's father, Lourie Formby III, is a 1989 arts and sciences graduate. Her grandfather, the late Lourie Formby Jr., and brother, state Rep. Mark Formby of Picayune, also are alumni.
The Ella Formby Memorial Scholarship is designated for a graduate of Picayune High School. Students receiving the award must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale).
Additional gifts can be made to the scholarship fund through the MSU Foundation. For more information, contact Jack McCarty at 662-325-7000 or jmccarty@foundation.msstate.edu.
