CLEVELAND, Ohio – The American Wine School has created a scholarship in honor of one of its team members.
Organizers said the Deborah O’Brien Women in Wine Scholarship is open. O’Brien, 54, died of brain cancer in 2022.
“Her curiosity, her love of life and its simple pleasures, led her to pursue a deep knowledge of the wine world,” Marianne Frantz, a sommelier, founder and president of the AWS, said in a press release. “Deb’s professionalism and enthusiasm made her a trusted voice in the industry.”
O’Brien, who lived in Broadview Heights, earned a Level 3 in the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and was a certified specialist in wine from the Society of Wine Educators.
Frantz said she met O’Brien, who worked for Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, when the two helped organize the wine component of the Fabulous Food Show, which was held at the International Exposition Center.
“She was very passionate about wine education,” Frantz told cleveland.com.
The scholarship is intended to provide financial assistance for women who share the same passion.
Frantz said Glancy Wine Education Foundation will distribute the funds. Master Sommelier Dave Glancy started the foundation to offer scholarships to those in need to further their education, she said. A fundraiser held Thursday at Dante in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood raised $10,750 to launch the fund, Frantz said.
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