Businesswoman leaves Southeast $280,000 for scholarship fund

Southeast Missouri State University has received more than $280,000 from the estate of Frances Elizabeth Daniel, a longtime businesswoman in Charleston, Mo.

School officials announced the gift on Friday.

Alan Zacharias, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the fund-raising foundation at Southeast, said the money will go to establish a business scholarship.

Recipients must be graduates of the Charleston schools and studying business as full-time students.

Academic achievement and financial need will be considered in awarding the scholarships, Zacharias said.

Daniel was born on Dec. 12, 1912, in Scott County, but lived most of her life in Charleston. She died Jan. 20, 2002. She graduated valedictorian from Charleston High School and attended Central Methodist College and Swinney Conservatory at Fayette, Mo., where she earned a bachelor's degree in music. She later attended the Julliard School of Music in New York City.

When Daniel's father, Ollie Daniel, died in 1937, she assumed management of the family farm and her father's insurance agency. She operated the insurance agency for 46 years.

Southeast officials said Daniel was involved in numerous civic organizations and was chosen woman of the year by the Charleston Chamber of Commerce in 1969.