The Thomas Cloninger Endowed Scholarship

This fund is established by the Cloninger Family in memory of Thomas Cloninger. Thomas grew up in Dallas and graduated from Gaston Day School in 1972 before enrolling at Lenoir-Rhyne College, where he met his wife Betty Highsmith. When the original building for Mary Jo’s Cloth Store burned down in 1981, Thomas and Betty moved back to Dallas to help relocate and rebuild. Their decision to stay in Dallas and join the family business full-time led Thomas to return to school, and in 1989 he graduated from Wake Forest University with an MBA specializing in Entrepreneurship. He also joined his father, Polie, as a contractor for Gaston County’s License Plate Agency and eventually became the CFO of Mary Jo’s Cloth Store. Thomas and Betty raised two wonderful daughters, Hannah and Rebekah.
He was a member of Gaston Masonic Lodge 263, Shriners International, the Rotary Club of Gastonia, and served on the Gaston College Board of Trustees as well as the boards of various other community foundations. Applicants must be enrolled in a Business Administration or related field (e.g. Accounting and Office Administration). Preference will be given to applicants with the goal to transfer to a four-year institution majoring in Business. Scholarships may only be awarded to Gaston or Lincoln County residents who have a demonstrated financial need, have been enrolled in Gaston College for a minimum of 24 credit hours if a full-time student, or 12 hours if a part-time student, and have achieved a GPA of 2.5.