Los Alamos honors educator Brian Easton with new memorial scholarship
Cecilia Pratt received the first Brian Easton memorial scholarship as neighbors raised more than $11,000 and Easton’s family added $5,000 to keep it going.
Cecilia Pratt received the inaugural $1,000 Brian Easton Memorial Scholarship at the 2026 Senior Scholarship Ceremony, and the award came with a pair of suspenders, echoing Easton’s trademark style.
The scholarship was created after Brian Easton died unexpectedly on March 17, 2026, at age 68, following a pedestrian-vehicle accident in Los Alamos. Ellen Mills, Karyl Ann Armbruster and Lynn Ovaska organized the effort with help from friends, former students, colleagues and other community members, raising more than $11,000 from 38 donors. Easton’s family added another $5,000 so the memorial fund can keep supporting students in future years.
The Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation administers the scholarship and manages several memorial scholarships each year. In the broader 2026 scholarship season, 60 Los Alamos High School seniors received 136 local scholarships totaling more than $200,000.
Easton’s own path to the classroom traced through law, economics and a second career in education. Born July 17, 1957, in St. Joseph, Michigan, he graduated with honors from the College of William & Mary in 1979, earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1982 and later practiced law in Seattle and Alaska. He returned to school for a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from New Mexico Highlands University in 1998 before joining Los Alamos High School, where he taught a range of social studies classes and was primarily the economics teacher. He retired in May 2024.
Easton was known in Los Alamos for his quick wit, bushy mustache and suspenders. A celebration of life was scheduled for June 27, 2026, at the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos.
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