Lisa Maurer
LISA MAURER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Born November 27, 1963 in Royal Oak, Michigan, to Jim and Diane Drake, Lisa Maurer moved to Brookings, Oregon in 1972. Lisa had a younger
sister, Carolyn Drake-Radda and an older brother Jimmy who died in a mountain-climbing accident at age twenty-three. She attended Brooking-Harbor High School and graduated with the honor of co-valedictorian in 1981. Lisa attended ROTC Basic Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, during the summer of 1983 and returned to Oregon State University with a two-year ROTC scholarship. She was commissioned on June 9, 1985, and graduated a year later with highest honors with a degree in biochemistry and biophysics.
Immediately following graduation, Lisa went to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, for the Medical Service Corps Officer Basic Course, which was to be followed by the Preventive Medicine Course. While taking the physical fitness test for the Preventive Medicine Course, Lisa suffered a massive seizure and was diagnosed with a low-grade malignant brain tumor. She was temporarily retired from the Army and lived in Manhattan, Kansas, with her husband, then Captain Ronald Maurer.
While temporarily retired, she attended Kansas State University to complete an elementary education program. She was recalled to active duty in 1989 and returned to Ft. Sam Houston to complete the Preventive Medicine Course, where she was the distinguished honor graduate. She was assigned to Irwin Army Community Hospital, Ft. Riley, Kansas as an Environmental Science Officer. During the summer of 1990 her tumor returned with a vengeance.
She was moved to Letterman Army Medical Center, The Presidio, California, in August 1990. There she received a myriad of treatments at both Letterman and the University of California at San Francisco Hospital. Lisa was permanently medically retired in early 1991. While at The Presidio, she lived on the base until her passing on December 1, 1991.
Lisa was a woman of great hope and of great strength. She fought a tremendous battle against great odds and she did not lie down when she learned of her illness. She rose up to fight and to meet the world head on. Lisa did not use her cancer as an excuse to retreat from living. She once wrote, “Hey, all anyone really has is today. Therefore, today I am just like everyone else with the same capacity for enjoyment, giving, caring, and loving.”
Lisa enjoyed the world and found ways to give of herself. One of Lisa’s proudest accomplishments was to return to active duty after she was temporarily retired. It remains a mystery as to why she was returned to active duty, but there was not one moment’s hesitation in her decision to do so. She loved her work, was loved by her coworkers, and felt pride and honor in serving her country.
The Lisa Maurer Memorial Scholarship is funded with donations from her family and friends in addition to funds raised by the senior ROTC classes.