History A Scholarship Fund for the First United Methodist Church of Eaton Rapids was started with gift from the estate of the late Mable Hutchinson in 1960 during the pastorate of Donald B. Winegar. In 1972 the Administrative Board established a Scholarship Committee to administer the Fund. During the pastorate of Robert E. Betts in the 1980s, the church received a generous bequest from the estate of Wallace Swank. Mr. Swank, a retired educator and member of the church, wanted to assist persons in obtaining their college educations. Because this desire was consistent with the policy and purpose of the Scholarship Fund, his gift was added to the Fund and it was renamed in his memory. In 2017 the Wallace Swank Scholarship Fund was incorporated into the church’s new Endowment Fund Charter to be administered, managed, and invested in accordance with its policies and procedures. As a result of a significant gift in memory of Fred DeCamp in 2018, one scholarship is given each year in the name of “The Fred and Lois DeCamp Family.”