The Wichita State University Foundation has received gifts of more than $250,000 from the estates of J. Eleanor Webb and Leota Decarsky to support undergraduate scholarships.

Webb, a Caldwell native, received her nursing diploma from Wesley Hospital School of Nursing in 1942. She worked as a registered nurse for 10 years, including time with Dr. Frank L. Menehan, a pediatrician who practiced in the Brown Building (downtown Wichita). Webb was married to Morris Webb, who died in 2002.

They had a son, Morris Webb Jr., who attended WSU for two years before transferring to the University of Oklahoma. He worked as a meteorologist for the government in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Webbs had one grandson and a great-grandson. Eleanor Webb died in 2007 and through her estate created the J. Eleanor Webb Endowed Scholarship in Nursing for "deserving and conscientious students."

Although Decarsky never attended Wichita State, three of her siblings did graduate from WSU. One of these siblings, her sister Karen Reynolds, also has been a longtime staff member at the university.

When Decarsky died, her estate gift created the Leota Decarsky Endowed Scholarship, a general scholarship fund for WSU students. Decarsky had an appreciation for the value of education, as reflected by her estate plan provisions for gifts to five educational institutions.

"We are deeply grateful for the forethought of these two women," said Michael Lamb, WSU Foundation vice president for planned giving. "By including gift provisions in their estate plans, they will help support WSU students for years to come."