New scholarship will honor Lloyd Aman

By: 
Jason Ferguson

Lloyd Aman was a man of few words. But those he helped at some point in time—which is pretty much the entire City of Custer—have plenty to say about what he meant to them.
“We all knew you didn’t get a lot of conversation out of Lloyd,” said Mike Pahl, one of Aman’s friends in Custer. “You didn’t hire him to have a conversation. You knew you were going to be treated fairly and things were going to get fixed. He helped us so many different places.”
Aman owned and worked at L&A Welding in Custer for years, and his recent passing has left a void in the community for all of the gifts he had, said Pahl, whether it be as an auto  mechanic, welder or machinist.
“Many of us in the Custer region have benefited over the last 30 plus years from the services of Lloyd Aman through his business L&A Welding,” Pahl said. “Our vehicles were repaired, our broken pieces welded back together stronger than they were originally, and our parts that didn’t exist were machined by Lloyd.”
Pahl said in a way to pay it forward and honor Aman’s contributions to Custer, a new scholarship is being created that will help send a current or former Custer High School student to a tech school to study one of the many areas Aman had mastered, whether it be mechanics, welding or machining.
A fundraising committee consisting of Pahl, Mike Tennyson and Janet Boyer has been established, though more volunteers are needed. All scholarship contributions will be tax deductible and can be made through cash or credit card.
The scholarship will be managed by the Black Hills Area Community Foundation, and a group of donors has agreed to match, dollar for dollar, all donor contributions up to the first $5,000 donated. The idea is to keep the scholarship going in perpetuity, with an annual award or awards, depending on number of candidates and money raised.
A local selection committee will be comprised to choose scholarship winners, one of which Pahl and Tennyson hope will be Cody Barker, the long-time right hand man of Aman at L&A.
A page has been set up at the Black Hills Area Community Foundation’s website for donations, which can be found at bit.ly/lloydaman.
Contributions may also be sent to BHACF/Lloyd Aman Scholarship, PO Box 231, Rapid City, SD  57709, Attention: Barb Keene.
“I believe our entire community mourns the loss of Lloyd. Lloyd wasn’t a man of many words but when he spoke, you listened,” Tennyson said. “He could fix anything you asked him to and was one of those people who would go out of his way to help his customers and neighbors.
“Lloyd’s loss leaves a large void in our community. When Mike Pahl shared the scholarship idea with me a few days after Lloyd’s passing, I couldn’t think of a better way to honor Lloyd’s memory in a more  positive and long lasting  manner. Hopefully the scholarship will facilitate a  Custer student’s desires and ambitions to become a mechanic, machinist or welder, all trades and talents our community will need for decades. I hope the community will join us in donating on behalf of Lloyd’s memory and a brighter future for his community.”

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