The Live Like Laura Foundation at the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Photos: The Schrankler family
Cottage Grove family creates a foundation to award scholarships in memory of Laura Schrankler.
In the 25 years that Laura Schrankler was on this Earth, her infectious personality gave her a gift for connecting people. And now, two years after her sudden death, she continues to bring people together.
Laura, an avid marathon runner, was perfectly healthy when she went into cardiac arrest on July 14, 2022, eventually passing away five days later.
“We were absolutely shocked and devastated,” says Laura’s mother, Pam Schrankler. “Everyone was.”
While her death turned the world of her family and friends upside down, they were determined to keep her legacy alive. The Live Like Laura Foundation was created as a way to honor Laura and the way she lived life by spreading love and her joy of connecting others. “This was a way we could continue Laura’s legacy,” says Laura’s father, Jim Schrankler. “People with totally different interests would come together because Laura was that glue. We want that to live on.”
The main goal of the foundation is to provide scholarships to seniors attending Laura’s alma mater, Park High School in Cottage Grove. Successful applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to academics, foster connections among their peers and actively participate in school athletics, clubs and other organizations.
As the family continues to deal with the unimaginable grief surrounding the death of their daughter and sister, creating the foundation offered a way to help themselves and others heal. Jim, Pam and Laura’s siblings, Peter Schrankler and Jennifer Nelson (née Schrankler), came up with the idea right away. “It was just a few days after her funeral that we were saying we’d like to continue her legacy,” Jim says. Pam says all three of her children attended Park High School and received scholarships as seniors. “This seemed like a wonderful way to give back,” she says.
Laura Schrankler
With the foundation in its infancy in 2023, Pam and Jim funded the first scholarship. In 2024, the support from family, friends and the community enabled the foundation to award two $3,000 scholarships. “The way things are going, we’re going to continue to grow and sustain it for a number of years,” Jim says.
One of the questions on the scholarship application asks students to describe a way they connect others. The family agrees that reading applicants’ responses brings them joy and are confident Laura would love reading them, too. “Laura knew people from all different walks of life,” Pam says. “She befriended everybody.”
The foundation wants to branch out to another organization that was near and dear to Laura, too—Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a youth mentoring program. After her death, the organization let one of Laura’s friends take her place with the child she was mentoring. “We’d like to partner with the program … and increase opportunities for that organization to bring children to events,” Jim says. “Laura would want that.”
“The foundation helps with the grieving process,” Jim says. “We’ve been overwhelmed with things that have happened and the support we’ve been shown.”
Pam agrees. “A lot of people have said that Laura was always so busy, and it’s almost like she lived a full life in her 25 years,” she says. “She crammed everything in that she could. She had a very strong faith, and as a mom, that gives me comfort. She was an incredible girl.”
