Community Trust Foundation

Karl V. Kahl & Haseleah Kahl Scholarship Fund

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“Perseverance is defined as persistence in doing something despite its difficulty.”

Karl V. Kahl (KV) was born in Oakland, Maryland in 1929. He was the only child of Karl Kahl and Mabel Falkenstein. From an early age, KV and his parents knew there was something different about him. They couldn’t understand why a child who was so highly intelligent and inquisitive struggled to learn to read. It was especially perplexing to them because he excelled at mathematics and mechanics. His difficulty in reading, caused him to fall behind and struggle in school. Not much was known about dyslexia in the late thirties, early forties when KV was in school. The public education system was not equipped to deal with someone with KV’s challenges. His teachers told his parents that KV just wasn’t very bright. He was bullied by his peers and often felt stupid when he was in school.

But KV was blessed with remarkable parents. They refused to accept that their son was not very bright and couldn’t learn. His parents found a special school that they thought might be able to help KV. So in the late 1940’s, with his father’s blessing, KV and his mother packed up and moved to Pennsylvania for two years so that KV could complete high school and attend the Perkiomen School where they had teachers who were able to help KV learn to read. He graduated from the Perkiomen School in 1950 at the age of 21. KV often expressed how fortunate he was to have such supportive parents who never gave up on him. He knew that there were many other kids with dyslexia who were not as fortunate, and did not have the resources or the support to get the help that he did.

Karl V. Kahl & Haseleah Kahl Scholarship Fund

KV then went on to Potomac State College where he met the love of his life, Haseleah Snyder, known to her friends and family as Hassie. They married after just a few months of dating and both graduated from Potomac State. KV got his associate’s degree in Engineering and Hassie received a degree in business administration and secretarial sciences.

After serving in the U.S. Army, KV graduated from West Virginia University with his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. KV used to say, “they” graduated in 1957. KV always told people that he and Hassie shared the diploma because she would read his textbooks to him, help him take notes, and help him study every night. So they got his engineering degree as a team.

They moved to Charleston so that KV could work for the West Virginia Department of Highways. KV spent 30 years designing and maintaining roads and bridges all over the state of West Virginia. Bridges were his specialty. He received many awards and accolades throughout his career, and even after he retired, he was often consulted for his advice on bridge structure and design. As KV would say, not bad for a kid who couldn’t read.

In 1988, KV & Hassie retired full time to their home in Oakland and lived a simple life like they always had.

Hassie passed away from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 76. KV died in 2018 at the age of 89. KV’s struggles with dyslexia led them both to place a very high value on education throughout their life. KV knew that if it were not for the teachers at the Perkiomen School who taught him to read, and the special help that he received, that his life would have been very different. Both he and Hassie believed that education was the means by which a person could change their circumstances.

Despite dyslexia, KV persevered in becoming a highly successful engineer. He attributed that success to education. KV wanted his and Hassie’s legacy to continue to be that of helping individuals improve their circumstances through education and the opportunities that it brings. He also wanted to help people who have struggled with learning difficulties like he did, and give them the opportunities to succeed that his parents gave him. This scholarship was established to do that very thing.

This Scholarship is awarded to a student pursing a degree from an accredited community college, four-year college/university, or trade school who has overcome physical, financial, and/or learning impairments but has demonstrated a strong work ethic and a commitment to learning such that there is a reasonable likelihood of success. This scholarship is awarded to current high school graduates of public, private, & homeschool in Allegany, Garrett, or Mineral Counties.

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