It didn’t take long for someone to step up and contribute to the Gemological Institute of America Marion H. Halfacre Scholarship Fund.

The Luxury Jewelers Resource Group, is the first organization to contribute to the scholarship fund that honors Marion H. Halfacre, founder and president of Traditional Jewelers in Newport Beach, Calif., and an original founder of the GIA Jewelry Career Fair. Halfacre also was a LJRG member.

The LJRG group consists of 13 of the top retail jewelers in the United States. According to Andrew Johnson, LJRG acting president, the group wanted to underwrite the full cost of a GIA On Campus Graduate Gemologist.

“We are proud to have counted Marion Halfacre as a friend, a respected member of the LJRG family and someone who embodied the values of our group. The LJRB members are committed to maintaining the highest standards of service excellence, community involvement and the cultivation of professional growth,” said Johnson.

“It’s our desire to support the wishes of the Halfacre family in the providing the first funds to the founding of the Marion H. Halfacre Scholarship fund at the GIA,” he added. “We share Marion’s dream of securing the future of our industry by supporting the educational training and professional development of graduate gemologists committed to continuing the tradition.”

“Marion was an exceptional individual who believed in the power of education to strengthen our industry,” said Kathryn Kimmel, vice president of marketing and public relations for GIA. “Donations to the scholarship, like that of the Luxury Jewelers Resource Group, will keep the memory of Marion and his good works alive for generations to come.”

Halfacre died June 9 of a heart condition. He was 58. In his honor, the Halfacre family established the GIA Scholarship.

For more information about the Marion H. Halfacre Scholarship or to make a donation by phone, please call Bev Berthoty, manager of Institute Relations at 760-603-4120.  Details can also be found on the GIA Web site on www.gia.edu.

JCK