VAN NUYS : Scholarship to Honor Victim of Slaying

A $20,000 college scholarship fund in the name of a Blythe Street apartment owner killed by gang members last year has been created for residents of the gang-plagued neighborhood in Panorama City.

The Don Aragon Scholarship Fund was created for high school graduates by a donation from the Anheuser-Busch Foundation last week.

The fund will be administered by the Immaculate Heart Community’s Blythe Street Project, which seeks to address the religious, educational, medical and social needs of residents.

Anheuser-Busch “is one of the first corporations to reach out,” said Sister Margaret Rose Welch, director of the Blythe Street project. “We are very grateful.”

Aragon, an employee of the Van Nuys brewery, was killed Oct. 31 when gang members tried to steal his truck after he parked in front of his building at 14626 Blythe St.

Aragon, 55, of Northridge shot two of the gang members before he died of a gunshot wound to his chest.

One of the gang members died from his wounds.

The other, a 17-year-old boy, recovered and last week was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Under state law, the teen-ager can only be incarcerated in a California Youth Authority facility until his 25th birthday.

The Anheuser-Busch Foundation also donated $30,000 to the Northridge Hospital Medical Center for construction of the Dorothy Leavy Cancer Center.

“Responsible corporate citizenship also requires being a part of the community and reaching out to the people who live in it,” said Michael J. Roarty, executive vice president of corporate marketing and communication for Anheuser-Busch Companies.