The Robert and M. Madeline Goodney Scholarship in Memory of Shawn Robert McDavitt and Luke William McDavitt

This scholarship was established on the occasion of Madeleine’s 60th reunion from Worcester State University in memory of her grandson Shawn Robert McDavitt.
Shawn Robert was born in Brigham and Women’s Hospital on August 13, 1991 and due to a congenital defect, he was sent to Boston Children’s Hospital. He spent 17 days in the neonatal intensive care unit where he received loving, compassionate and state of the art care. In spite of heroic efforts to correct his defect our tragic and sad journey ended on August 30, 1991, when Shawn Robert died.
Recognizing the first-class reputation of Worcester State University’s nursing program, its high academic and clinical standards and the rigors of the overall undergraduate curriculum to prepare nurse generalists, Madeleine and Robert chose to established this scholarship at her alma mater.
In 2018, having had the tragic experience of reliving this sad journey once again with their great grandson, Luke William McDavitt, Madeleine and Robert have chosen to endow this scholarship to include his memory as well. Luke William was board on September 29, 2018, one of a set of twin boys. They were born prematurely at 25 weeks. Little Luke William was not strong enough to survive the early birth problems that lied ahead and he died on the same day that he was born. Thankfully, his beautiful miracle twin, Charles Robert survived. Charles Robert spent 100 days in the NICU at Worcester’s UMASS Memorial Hospital and was able to come home to his parents on January 7, 2019. Charles Robert turned one year old on September 29, 2019. He is a bright light in his family’s life.
It is to these two little babies, Shawn Robert McDavitt, the son of Thomas and Cynthia McDavitt and Luke William McDavitt, the son of Bryan and Megan McDavitt who touched all of their lives so profoundly, that the Goodney’s dedicate this scholarship.