The Women's Opportunity Fund - Linda Culp Memorial Scholarship honors Linda Culp by providing scholarships to women pursuing education to improve their lives and to better support their families. The scholarship is intended to support women who are working to complete their education or to pursue additional schooling toward higher level career goals, professional certification, or other degrees. Applicants must reside in one of the following counties: Wood, Wirt, Ritchie, Calhoun, Gilmer, Roane, Pleasants, Jackson, Mason, Doddridge or Tyler in West Virginia or Meigs, Athens, or Washington Counties in Ohio. This fund was created by members of Linda's family, including sisters Joann Ferguson, Bobbie Davis, Leta Carey and Pamela Yates, and Linda's many friends after Linda's tragic death in 2003.

Linda graduated from Bay High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Medical College of Georgia in August, Georgia. In 1970, she began working at St. Joseph's Hospital in Parkersburg, West Virginia, as the director of Medical Records. She held progressively more responsible positions at St. Joseph's Hospital over the next 32 years, and when she left the hospital in 2002, she was serving as its Chief Operating Officer. While working at St. Joseph's Hospital, Linda earned her Master's degree in Business Administration from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies in Charleston, West Virginia. In 2002, Linda took a position as Chief Executive Officer at Kentucky's Marymount Medical Center and was pleased to fill the position which allowed her to stay close to her family. She balanced her professional life with family values, while caring for her husband who was suffering from Huntington's disease.

After her death, Linda's family and close friends sought to create a way for her to be remembered for what she had done in life. This included mentoring and supporting the educational and professional goals of those in her workplace and community. Linda believed strongly in the value of continuing one's education, according to her good friend and former co-worker, Sheryl Holdren. "Linda was a great source of encouragement for her friends and a mentor and wonderful role model for many women. Linda encouraged friends and colleagues to finish degrees, further their education and generally position themselves better in the work force through advancing their education. Starting a fund to support women who are seeking to complete their college degrees or to obtain other higher education, seems the best way to provide a tribute to Linda's personal enthusiasm for improving the lives of women," Holdren said.

Since its creation, the Women's Opportunity Fund - Linda Culp Memorial Scholarship has aided many women: practical nurses pursuing R.N. degrees, nurse technicians seeking nursing degrees, and others needing training in fields such as social work and education. Recipients have been single parents, women working hard to make ends meet, and women in families experiencing significant crises or financial setbacks. Linda Culp was known by many to be a visionary leader and a person who valued education and teamwork. Through this fund, Linda's role as a friend and a mentor continues into the future as women are supported in working toward personal growth opportunities and higher level career goals in her name.