Scholarship will reward kindness, which Art Ridley prized most

“Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows.”

Those words, spoken by attorney Robert Green Ingersoll more than a century ago, could easily have been the maxim by which the late Milford attorney Art Ridley lived.

Ridley died in March, and attorney John “Duke” Schneider, a founding member of Greater Pike Community Foundation, moved to establish a memorial fund for his friend and colleague.

“Art helped a tremendous amount of organizations and nonprofits over the years, pro-bono,” Schneider said. “You almost cannot find an organization he didn’t help.

“He talked the talk and walked the walk, and will be greatly missed by the community.”

Schneider called three of Ridley’s contemporaries — Greater Pike Chair Jim Pedranti, Financial Advisor Joe Biondo and Realtor Dave Chant — to seed the fund. And with the help of Greater Pike’s Executive Director, Jenni Hamill, they created the Art Ridley Spirit of Kindness Memorial Scholarship.

He explained that donations will help create an endowment to recognize a senior at Delaware Valley High School who has demonstrated the spirit of kindness and plans to continue their education.

“Art had a plaque in his office that said simply, ‘Because nice matters,’” said Art’s widow, Jane Ridley. “He lived that every day. It didn’t matter who you were, what you did, or how you lived your life, he would treat anyone with the same kindness.”

Greater Pike’s Jenni Hamill said, “Sometimes, you can change someone’s life, just by being kind. Art Ridley not only understood this during his lifetime but will embody it in perpetuity through the memorial scholarship fund established in his name at Greater Pike. This is a simple, yet powerful way to honor his memory.”