Memorial scholarship will honor officer Dale Provins

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

It’s been nearly two months since Jefferson Hills police officer Dale Provins Jr. passed away, but thanks to the efforts of local officials, his name and legacy may live on for a very long time.

Robert Prah, California University of Pennsylvania’s Director of Military and Veterans Affairs, is spearheading a campaign with community members and the officer’s family to establish a scholarship in Provins’ name to help aspiring law enforcement students realize their dream of public service.

Provins, 50, died from injuries suffered in an on-duty vehicle crash June 13 in the 200 block of Old Clairton Road in Jefferson Hills.

An oncoming vehicle crossed the center line and struck Provins’ patrol vehicle head-on. Provins was flown to a hospital in Pittsburgh where he died 10 days later.

Provins is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He served with the Jefferson Hills Borough Police Department for 15 years and was a second-generation police officer. He is survived by his daughter, fiancée, parents  and siblings.

“I realized he lived two streets over from me in Rostraver Township,” Prah said. “If there’s one way to keep his legacy of public service alive, how great would it be to have this scholarship. He’s a local guy and people still talk about him.”

Prah said the goal is to get $10,000 by 2021 and start awarding the scholarship to a student in the fall of that year.

To qualify for the scholarship, a student must be entering a law enforcement or criminal justice-related field and must attend Cal U, where both Provins and his daughter Mariah attended college.

“It means a lot to me because my dad and I attended Cal,” Mariah Provins said.

Mariah said while she’s leaving the initial groundwork to Prah, she hopes to stay involved with the development of the scholarship.

“I can work with him,” Mariah said. “I would like to be involved as much as I can. I’d like to meet the people who are receiving the scholarship.”

Prah said he’s been reaching out to local police organizations, businesses and individuals who would like to contribute to the scholarship “out of the goodness of their heart.”

“I think (Provins’ death) hits home for me, being an officer in the army for 20 years,” Prah said. “Anybody in any type of public service, you don’t think about yourself, but you’re just as prone to being in an accident.”

Mariah said she’s honored to know her father’s legacy will continue to inspire others.

“I’m very grateful that they want to honor my father this way,” she said. “It’s very fitting.”

For more information about the scholarship, contact Prah at prah@calu.edu.