Victoria County Master Gardeners endow scholarship honoring Knezek family
The Victoria County Master Gardener Association is partnering with Texas A&M University-Victoria to establish a new endowed scholarship that advances education while honoring a family rooted in service, stewardship and community impact.
The Victoria County Master Gardener Association/Cliff Knezek Family Endowment will support undergraduate students at A&M-Victoria with a focus on first-generation students and those from Victoria and the surrounding counties.
The fund recognized the late Clifton “Cliff” J. Knezek, whose dedication to gardening, education and the Victoria community left a lasting mark on the association and the Victoria Educational Gardens.
“We are so appreciative of the Victoria County Master Gardener Association for investing in our Jaguar students in this special way,” said Amber Countis, A&M-Victoria vice president for advancement and external relations. “VCMGA is a vibrant organization in our community, and we are thrilled to be able to partner with them to help students excel and to honor their efforts as well as the Knezek Family for generations to come. This gift is special because VCMGA members chose to collaborate with us on how to make an impact. I am excited to see future scholarship recipients engaging with VCMGA members at the gardens and at other events.”
Under the agreement, a gift of $10,500 has been pledged by the association. Of that amount, $10,000 will establish the permanent endowment, while $500 will be awarded in the short term as the fund begins to generate interest.
Knezek joined the 2006 Master Gardener class and quickly became a central figure in the Victoria County Master Gardeners Association. He served as the association’s president in 2009 and was later recognized as VCMGA Gardener of the Year in 2014.
Members remember him as a steady, detail-oriented leader who kept meetings on track, supported major projects and could be counted on to follow through. He devoted countless hours to the Victoria Educational Gardens, where his generosity played a hand in key improvements such as infrastructure and specialized spaces that enhance visitor experiences.
“He was an extremely generous person,” said Charlie Neumeyer, VCMGA chair of scholarships. “He spent a lot of time out here and was very helpful … he was a very knowledgeable man.”
The Victoria County Master Gardener Association/Cliff Knezek Family Endowment will support undergraduate students who demonstrate strong academic performance and a connection to the region. Preference will be given to first-generation students, or students from Victoria, Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca or Refugio counties.
Additional preferences include undergraduate students in good standing enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours, students in the College of Business pursuing agribusiness, students in the College of Natural & Applied Science pursuing engineering and a minimum 3.0 GPA.
The Victoria County Master Gardener Association operates as part of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Master Gardener program, said Barbara David, the association’s treasurer-elect.
Its members are trained by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in research-based horticulture, including soils, water conservation, composting, entomology, plant pathology and related fields. VCMGA has been active about two decades and includes approximately 120 members who maintain the 1.9 acres of demonstration gardens at the Victoria Educational Gardens.
Members give back to the community through school tours, youth camps, seasonal plant sales, symposiums and hands-on educational programs, David said. The group also shares research-based knowledge through one-on-one problem-solving and public outreach, helping residents address real-world gardening and landscaping challenges.
“[Cliff] seemed to know anything you’d ask him, and if he didn’t know, he would look it up and help you,” David said. “What I remember about Cliff was you could count on him to do what he said he was going to do.”
The endowment alights with the organization’s broader goal of serving the community through education, said Phyllis Elmore, president-elect of the Victoria County Master Gardeners Association.
“This group is phenomenal. They are primarily made up of retired individuals, and these individuals, who are in their 70s and 80s, can outwork anyone – they’re go-getters,” Elmore said. “They’re passionate about gardening, about Victoria and about education.”
In addition to the pledged gift, the association plans to continue supporting scholarships through proceeds from its major plant sales and memorial contributions from members and friends to ensure that Cliff Knezek’s commitment to learning, service and community enrichment will continue to grow, much like the gardens he helped nurture in life.
Texas A&M University-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the colleges of Business, Education & Health Professions, Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, and Natural & Applied Science. A&M-Victoria provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as online classes that students can take from anywhere. The university supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.