Westervelt Family Creates Fund for Ocracoke Students

credit: Gannett Foundation Official Page

When Dr. Fred Westervelt died in 2023 at the age of 88, his family wanted to do something to honor him and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

"We wanted to do something that would be worthwhile and would help the community," says Westervelt's wife, Ernie.

That something was establishing a scholarship fund in his name, the News & Observer reports.

Westervelt's career included 30 years at the University of Virginia in the field of nephrology, where "his role in establishing early dialysis programs and his subsequent commitment to community health exemplify a life devoted to service," his family says in a statement.

After leaving UVA, Westervelt opened his own dialysis clinic in Virginia before moving to Ocracoke, a remote island off the coast of North Carolina, in 2005.

The Westervelts lived there for more than six decades before moving to the Outer Banks in 2005.

"Described by his family as a kind and ethical man who chose his words carefully, Fred was deeply appreciative of the remote island that allowed him to rest from the chaos of his regular life," his family says.

"We wanted to do something that would be worthwhile and would help the community," says Ernie.

The scholarship, administered by the Outer Banks Community Foundation, will

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