Houlihan Family Scholarship

The Houlihan Family Scholarship for Journalism is awarded annually to a graduating senior who has been accepted to college on a journalism-related track with the intention of pursuing a career in print media.

The Houlihan Family Scholarship for Journalism was established by former news reporter Patty Houlihan in honor of her late husband, Tom Houlihan, his first wife, Kat, and herself to acknowledge the important role that community journalism played in their lives. Tom’s 40-year career as a reporter, editor and columnist — most notably at the Star and later as co-founder of the H-F Chronicle — and Patty’s decade reporting for the Star fostered a deep connection to the community where they raised their family.
Tom had long hoped to establish a scholarship in Kat’s memory. When he learned he had cancer, he and Patty decided to honor the family’s belief in the importance of journalism with a scholarship offered to students in their community. Endowed by Patty, this award supports Homewood-Flossmoor High School students who demonstrate a strong interest in print journalism, fostering the next generation of reporters, writers, and editors.

By the age of 10, Tom knew that he wanted to work for a newspaper, to be a reporter and help give the little guy a voice. His first job out of college was for Crescent Newspapers, a string of local papers that covered the Southwest Suburbs of Chicago. As a novice reporter and editor, he supervised a very small newsroom and learned a great deal, including how to take and develop photos.

In 1976, Tom and a friend started the Lockport Free Press. Although the paper was published for only three years, it was there that he met the woman who would change his life. He wed Kathleen Raymond, the "girl in the office," in 1979. He began teaching journalism at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill., and then became a full- time reporter at the Times of Northwest Indiana in 1982.

Over the next six years at the daily paper, he wrote thousands of stories and covered some of the paper's most high-profile beats. His efforts to bring in a union ended his tenure there, but two weeks later, he was hired at Star Newspapers in the South Suburbs as an associate editor.

He also became a beloved Sunday columnist. Some of his most popular columns featured his family -- Kat and their three sons, who attended Flossmoor schools including H-F High School. Careful to protect their privacy, he never named the boys. John was "the oldest son." Joe was "the middle son." And Emmett was "the youngest son." The column he wrote after Kat's death in 2000 brought hundreds of offers of support.

When he married friend and former colleague Patty Briske in 2003, they moved to Flossmoor, where the family flourished in the vibrant, diverse community. Tom was named the editorial page editor, a position he held when the twice-weekly Star was combined with another local paper. But the publisher eliminated the Star in 2008, bringing an end to the 120-year-old newspaper that had covered more than 50 suburban communities.

Scholarship Amount:
$1,000 one time award

Selection Criteria:
Be a graduating senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School

Have a GPA of 3.5 or higher

Have completed journalism coursework at HF

Be enrolled in a community college or public/private college to pursue a journalism-related program

Demonstrated experience in journalism with published articles in the Voyager or another publication

Selection Process:
The sponsor will select the recipient