Irene Conaway and her husband, Bertram Conaway, created the A. Bertram and Irene J. Conaway Scholarship for Wood County Christian School to support graduating seniors from Wood County Christian School as they pursue post-secondary education.

Irene was born in Salem, West Virginia and graduated from Bridgeport High School. She went into nursing in 1944, when hospitals still ran the nursing education programs. However, she did not work as an RN following her first marriage to Harry Moats. She worked part-time jobs doing such things as administering TB tests.

Bert was born in Ritchie County and graduated from Harrisville High School. He served in Germany with the Army from 1945 - 1947. Following his military service, he worked in the oil fields for Pennzoil until his retirement. He now raises Black Angus cattle and is active in the VFW.

Irene and Bert met at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. She had been a friend of his wife but, she explains, did not know him very well until after his wife had passed away in 1996. The couple married in 1999.

Bert and Irene were "amazed that Wood County Christian had no scholarships at all to offer their students." Because of this, they were inspired to create the fund with the Foundation. The advantage of creating the fund at the PACF, they noted, was that it enables students to attend the post-secondary educational institution of their choice, depending on their particular interests and career plans.