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INUVIK
Through the devastation of losing an esteemed colleague, friend and family member, there will soon be new inspiration for future pilots through the Nicole Stacey Memorial Scholarship.

A scholarship has been set up in honour of Nicole Stacey, pictured, a pilot born in Inuvik who died in a Twin Otter crash in Yellowknife last September. - photo courtesy of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation

It was only a week or two after the crash – where an Arctic Sunwest Charters Twin Otter holding seven passengers, Stacey as co-pilot and Trevor Jonasson as pilot, crashed in Yellowknife last September, killing Stacey and Jonasson – that two of Stacey's friends and colleagues approached Mount Royal University in Calgary to create something to allow her vivacious, strong-willed and keen spirit to live on.

Stacey, who was born in Inuvik, worked part-time with the Canadian Forces Reserves and went to Mount Royal University to get her commercial pilot's licence. She graduated from the Aviation Diploma program in 2009.

She always wanted to grasp hold of her dream of becoming a commercial pilot and work in the North, said her friend Sgt. Ryan Flavelle, who, along with Master Cpl. Thomson Chan and Stacey's family, brought the idea of a scholarship forward.

Flavelle knew Stacey through the military, as they spent four years at the same unit, 746 Communications Squadron, in Calgary.

Remembering Nicole

"Thomson and I wanted to start the scholarship because we wanted to do something to help remember Nicole. She was a truly amazing person," wrote Flavelle in an e-mail.

"Her death hit our unit like a tonne of bricks, and it took a while for the reality of it to sink in ... Nicole was a person who was constantly full of life. I miss her and I want there to be something positive to come out of the tragedy. Not to mention, I remember Nicole having to work three jobs to finance her way through flight school. If we can make it easier for someone to do that, then we have been successful," wrote Flavelle.

As it stands now, the scholarship will be awarded for the first time in the fall of 2013, according to Margot McKinney, development officer at the Mount Royal University Foundation. She said Chan and Flavelle approached the university in early October, mere weeks after the crash.

"They said they'd like to start something up but they had no knowledge of how a scholarship works. We just started talking and the next thing you know, they're busy, they got it all figured out ... You could tell this was something that really meant a lot to them, to do something to honour her," said McKinney.

"I think it'll be a really nice tribute to her. It's to inspire others to do well like she did ... They thought so highly of her. She sounds like she was an incredible women."

The scholarship fundraising is ongoing and donations can be made through the Mount Royal University website's "Giving to Mount Royal" section and specify the amount is going to the Nicole Stacey Memorial Scholarship. Since the foundation is a registered charity, any donation of more than $25 will receive a tax receipt.

McKinney said the program has a hefty price tag – students who take this program must have a private pilots licence first costing about $11,000. Over the two years of the diploma program, there are flight fees and flight times that add up to about $45,000 on top of tuition.

According to Chan, the final drafts for the scholarship's website and fundraiser campaigns are being developed this summer. The scholarship will be open for any Canadians that will be enrolled in the Aviation Diploma program at Mount Royal University.

"The reasons for this is to inspire fellow Canadians to dedicate themselves to school, country, and their communities as Nicole did," wrote Chan in an e-mail.

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