Brigadier General Richard Joseph Tallman and
Evelyn Phillips Tallman Scholarship
The Tallman Scholarship was established in 2019 by the estate of Evelyn Phillips Tallman. The scholarship is awarded annually to a graduate of Honesdale High School in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in memory of Mrs. Tallman and her husband, Brigadier General Richard "Dick" Joseph Tallman. General and Mrs. Tallman were both born and raised in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and were proud graduates of Honesdale High School.
After graduating from high school in June 1943, Dick served as an infantryman in WWII. He was awarded a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Army for his service in the Battle of the Bulge. In the spring of 1945, then-Lieutenant Tallman returned home and resigned his commission in order to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1949 and accepting his second commission as an infantry lieutenant.
General Tallman dedicated his life to service as an Army officer after his graduation from West Point, becoming a highly decorated combat veteran and serving four more tours in Korea and Vietnam over the course of his decades-long career. He was killed in action in the Battle of An Loc, Vietnam, on July 9, 1972, for which he was awarded the Silver Star. General Tallman was the last United States Army general officer killed in combat in Vietnam.
Evelyn Phillips was a bright, highly achieving girl from a working class family in Honesdale. Upon her graduation from high school in 1945, Evelyn attended St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Elmira, NY, from which she graduated in 1947. She worked as a registered nurse in New York City until her marriage to General Tallman in June of 1949.
Over their 23 years of marriage, the Tallmans raised a family of seven children, instilling in all of them a sense of service, hard work, and personal responsibility. General and Mrs. Tallman always emphasized education as the cornerstone of a successful, fulfilling, and useful life.
After General Tallman was killed in Vietnam, Evelyn returned to academics to complete her four-year degree in business at the Pennsylvania State University. Upon completing her studies in 1976, Mrs. Tallman relocated with her three youngest children to Boulder, Colorado, where she embarked on a long and successful career in the telecommunications industry. Although she lived in Boulder for the rest of her life, she frequently visited Honesdale to visit family and friends. Mrs. Tallman never remarried and was always proud of her Northeast Pennsylvania roots. Evelyn passed away in December 2018, just days before her 92nd birthday.
Mrs. Tallman’s expressed intent for the Tallman Scholarship is to honor students from Honesdale High School who display great academic promise, demonstrate high character, possess the ability to contribute to their community, and have a demonstrated financial need. The scholarship is meant to bring the reality of a college degree to outstanding individuals who would benefit substantially from such a gift.
The Tallman Scholarship is intended for students pursuing a four-year degree program and is structured to support recipients during all four years of study, with a total gift of up to $40,000.
To date, all students who have been awarded the Tallman Scholarship have achieved a 4.0 GPA every semester.