ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Graduation is supposed to be a happy time. Young adults are finally set free to find their place in the world, while family members and teachers alike congratulate themselves on a job well done.

Except for the McCurdy family. Lucas McCurdy, had he lived, would have graduated with the class of 2009.

Lucas died in 2001 after a battle with leukemia. He was 10 years old and had endured two bone marrow transplants.

The family has honored McCurdy’s memory by holding a fox hunt each year. Proceeds from the Lucas McCurdy-Amy Carrier hunt are used to help people who have leukemia, says Lucas’ uncle, William McCurdy.

“We want to keep his name going,” said William. “We wanted to set up a scholarship fund, and we started with his class.”

Lucas’ death “devastated my brother,” William said. His brother, Jesse, was Lucas’ father.

“He worked for me,” recalled William. “We paid his salary while he was up in Birmingham, at the Hope Lodge with Lucas.” Lucas’ mother was Janice McCurdy.

The first memorial scholarship, which will alternate between a graduating senior at Foley or Robertsdale High, went to Laren Lewis, who plans to major in International Relations at Samford University in Birmingham. The scholarship was for $1,000. The scholarship will alternate between Foley and Robertsdale High Schools, the two schools that most Summerdale School students go on to attend. The scholarship, according to Summerdale School Principal Mark Pumphrey.

This isn’t the first time the McCurdy name has come up for Summerdale students. According to a story in the Oct. 5, 2006 Independent, the Lucas McCurdy Research Center was dedicated in October of 2001.

For the scholarship, the McCurdy family enlisted Pumphrey’s help.

Pumphrey had a bond with the McCurdy family — he had been Lucas’ fourth-grade teacher. At the time, Pumphrey was a relatively new teacher, just in his second year and having one of his youngsters very ill was difficult for him and his students.

“I got involved by checking on him a lot,” said Pumphrey in a telephone interview.

Like other teachers before him, Pumphrey found those early classes special.

“It was neat watching them grow,” said Pumphrey.

“Lucas got sick,“ recalled Pumphrey, “and then his parents came in and explained what was wrong.”

Pumphrey said that he got involved with helping with fundraisers and bringing Lucas’ class to see him.

Lewis was a part of McCurdy’s class, and Pumphrey recalls that, “Laren was sweet in the way she cared (for Lucas) especially for a fourth-grader.”

“We’re hoping to to this every year,” said William.

The fox hunt, William explained takes place on foot, in a 500-plus acre preserve in Florida. The gray and red foxes live in the preserve and are not killed or harmed

“It’s all done in a pen (the preserve),” said William. “The state supervises the situation.”

William, who breeds “Walker dogs,” added that the hunt ends when the fox gets to its burrow. Aside from a good run, the fox is not harmed during the “hunt.”

Horses are not required. Aside from some hunt officials who are on horseback, the hunters are on foot. The hunt attract 100 to 200 people and 125 to 150 dogs.

“We are out hunting three or four nights a week,” said McCurdy. “People come from all over, as far away as Pennsylvania to the hunt. Fox hunters are the most generous people.”

For more information about the McCurdy scholarship, contact William McCurdy at 947-5540.