New SEMO scholarship honors Marchi

Southeast Missouri University Foundation has announced a memorial scholarship in marketing honoring the memory of the late Dennis P. Marchi, former longtime manager of the Schnucks Market in Cape Girardeau.

Marchi, who led Schnucks’ local grocery store for 30 years until his 2015 retirement, died in 2018 at the age of 68.

His widow, Kathleen, recently made a $10,000 gift to establish the Dennis P. Marchi Memorial Scholarship for Marketing.

The renewable scholarship will be awarded to a Southeast Missouri State University marketing major who possesses a minimum 3.2 grade point average.

The foundation, in a statement Friday, said Marchi — who earned his undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University in 1977 and a master’s degree from Webster University in 1983 — made many class presentations “providing his real-world perspective” to Southeast marketing students.

Charles Wiles, Southeast professor emeritus of marketing, said Marchi spoke often to his retail advertising classes.

“(Dennis) actually did his homework, including reading the chapter, (doing) as much as possible to tie the theory in the book to the real world.

“I never had any (guest) speaker go to that length of preparation,” Wiles added.

The foundation did not disclose the specific amount or frequency of the new student scholarship but said the university marketing department’s scholarship committee will select the recipients.