For the last 17 years, a graduating senior from each Auburn High School has been selected to receive the Juan Huseby Memorial Scholarship.

Juan Huseby was a petite, professional woman who dressed impeccably in quality and style. Born in 1918, she began her career with the Auburn School District in 1949 and held a succession of positions of increasing administrative responsibility and competence.

From 1957 to 1969, she was the administrative assistant to then Auburn School District Superintendent Hayes Holman. Juan was the state president of the Washington Association of Educational Office Professionals (WAEOP) from 1964 through 1966. After 27 years of service she retired in 1976 as director of District Personnel Services. At the time of her retirement, she worked with Assistant School Superintendent Chuck Booth, who later went on to become mayor of Auburn.

Juan had no children of her own; but in truth, the kids of Auburn had become hers. Upon her passing in 2000, she left her entire estate to establish a perpetual trust to fund scholarships for graduating seniors of the Auburn School District. For the past 17 years, this trust has been faithfully administered by her former boss, Booth.

Every year students from each of Auburn’s four high schools have received this scholarship. Juan’s generosity and generational vision established a legacy that continues to make a difference in Auburn.

Juan R. Huseby will be remembered as someone who made an impact in Auburn.

– John Holman