Mr. J. C. Garavalia

The Marc Garavalia Memorial Scholarship was established by Marc’s family as a perpetual memorial to his life. Marc Steven Garavalia, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Garavalia, was born December 11, 1957 in St. Charles, Missouri. He was graduated from Herrin (Illinois) High School in 1976 and from John Logan Community College in 1978. He was well known in Southern Illinois through his participation in athletics in high school and community college and in independent league play.
Marc was admitted to SIU Carbondale for Fall Semester 1978, tentatively, but without firm conviction, as biological sciences major. In August 1978, before Fall Semester classes began, he visited the School of Agriculture to discuss possible majors and career options. Having no previous practical experience in agriculture, it was a venturesome choice for Marc, but during this visit he decided to change his major to Animal Industries. Later he got a job as a student worker at the Diary Center.
Becoming an agriculture major was the watershed of Marc’s collegiate experience. He found satisfaction in his academic pursuits in Animal Industries and delight in his work at the Dairy Center. He was graduated with a B.S. degree in May 1980 had had been accepted for an M.S. program in the College of Education to begin in August 1980, when he was killed in a motorcycle accident on McLafferty Road on July 11th.