Supported by the Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable and Educational Trust, the Sturgis
Fellowship at the University of Arkansas commemorates the industry and vision of Roy
and Christine Sturgis. Having worked in the sawmills since he was a boy, Roy Sturgis
was one of ten children of an Arkansas farmer and homemaker. He eventually met and
married Texas native Christine Johns, and the couple made their fortune in the timber
and sawmill industries of southern Arkansas. Roy Sturgis died in 1976, and Christine
Sturgis died in 1981, having created the Dallas-based charitable trust that bears
their names. Although neither had an opportunity to receive an advanced education,
they both clearly recognized the importance of such an education, and their generosity
has provided scholarships for many young people attending colleges and universities
in Texas and Arkansas.