93-year-old retired principal keeps on giving to students

At age 93, Bill O’Brien, former principal of Prine, Pine View and Parrish elementary schools, is not done encouraging students.

He has an endowed annual scholarship for a Prine Elementary student, and for 31 years has awarded the Bill O’Brien Trophy to the county’s top cross country runners.

This year the O’Brien Trophy was awarded to Raquel Lespasio and Alison Ecker of Manatee High School and to John Rivera of Lakewood Ranch High School.

In addition, through a scholarship fund that O’Brien endowed, Carlos Aguilar Mancera, a fifth grader at Prine Elementary School, received his first college scholarship recently to State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.

Carlos earned the scholarship by being named the outstanding fifth grader at Prine Elementary. He is the 14th Prine student to receive the scholarship, established by O’Brien, Prine’s first principal.

“If the student continues to qualify for the award, they receive a scholarship for their second year,” an SCF press release states. The scholarship is designed to help keep students motivated as they progress through their school years.

Asked how long he originally set out to award the scholarships, O’Brien this week said, “Until I stopped breathing.”

But by endowing the Prine scholarship fund, it should continue even after O’Brien passes from the scene.

“I don’t know how you’re supposed to feel at 93, but I feel pretty good,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien, who was wounded in combat during World War II, lettered in four sports after the war: track, cross country, baseball and basketball at Central Normal College in Indiana.

A life-long athlete, he founded the Manasota Track Club in 1975. Although he no longer runs, he has been bowling for 76 years.

Rae Ann Darling-Reed, coach of the Manatee High School cross country team, is an O’Brien fan.

“I think he is awesome. He is an amazing supporter of our sport,” Darling-Reed said.

SCF receives about 3,000 scholarship applications a year. The SCF Foundation awards about 900 scholarships through the generosity of its donors. For information on starting a scholarship, contact Allison Nash at nasha@SCF.edu or at 941-752-5563.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "93-year-old retired principal keeps on giving to students."