Sister of lost hiker sending postcards to people who donate to Memorial University scholarship

The loss of Jordan Naterer rocked his family's world,but has now prompted his sister to create a scholarship in the young man's name.

The 25-year-old from Newfoundland and Labrador went missing while hiking in a remote section of a British Columbia park on Oct.12, 2020.

A 10-month search by Naterer's family, friends and hundreds of volunteers ended the next year when they found his body.

Jordan Naterer studied engineering at Memorial University. His younger sister, Veronica Naterer, said he was just two years post-graduation when he went missing.

"When he died, he had so much more to give," she said. "He had a very bright future ahead of him."

Veronica Naterer was in her first year of engineering at Memorial University when she lost her brother.

Their father, Greg Naterer was the dean of engineering. He now lives on Prince Edward Island, workingas the vice-president academic and research at the University of PEI.

To honour Jordan's memory, Veronica Naterer created a scholarship in her brother's name.

"I started it in 2022," she said. "We raised money through a hike that we organized and it's been going great ever since."

Veronica Naterer said her brother's legacy is one of kindnesssomething she wants carry forward with his scholarship.

She recalls something he used to say:"All I do is try to be kind."

"I think it's a really important message that, whatever you're going through, whatever you're doing in your day-to-day life, it's just important to try to be kind to everyone around you," she said.

The $1,000 Jordan Naterer Memorial Scholarship in Engineering is awarded annually to a Memorial University electrical engineering student who is academically strong and shows a commitment to community service.

Veronica Naterer said her brother wished he was more involved when studying at MUN. That's why the scholarship emphasizes community service.

"Academically, he was brilliant on paper, but he always said to me that he wished that he had been more involved in faculty, and that's something that I tried to do in my time at Memorial and it's super important to me," she said.

This year, Veronica Natereris working in Germany and isn't able to organize a fundraising hike. Instead,she's organized a postcard fundraiser where those who make a donation, receive a postcard from her travels in return.

"I could ... give my own money, which is no problem, but I was thinking like Jordan wouldn't want me to do that. Jordan would have said, 'come on, Veronica, do something cooler'," she said.

Her love of writing postcards to family and friends inspired the idea for the scholarship's latest fundraiser. It quickly gathered success.

"I am dropping off 40 postcards into my mailbox this morning," she said.

$2,300 has been raised in Jordan Naterer's name. Veronica Naterer said this will cover the scholarship for a couple years.

"I didn't think that this would come from it," she said. "Something that brings me joy is seeing good people do good things."

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