Submitted photo Hannah Bonta is kissed by her mother Jan Kirkland and grandmother Sally Kirkland. Sally has created a Kent State University nursing scholarship in honor of Hannah and Jan, who were killed in August of 2019.

LEETONIA — Sally Kirkland is the definition of a fighter. Over the past few years, she has endured more than most people do in a lifetime. And still, with the weight of the world on her shoulders, her main goal is to honor and remember her late daughter and granddaughter by helping others.

Jan Kirkland, 47, and her daughter Hannah Bonta, 20, were murdered at their home in Florida in August of 2019. Shortly before, Sally’s husband, Bob, passed away of kidney failure. And while the pain and shock is still present, Sally has taken a massive step in passing on some positivity to others. She has decided to create a nursing scholarship in honor of Jan and Hannah.

Jan was a director of nursing at several different nursing homes, and Hannah was following in her mother’s footsteps to pursue a career in nursing.

“My daughter loved her career, and my granddaughter was following in her footsteps because she admired her mother,” Sally said. “I just want students to understand what great people they were even though their lives were cut short. Hannah had a lot of respect for her mom to study that.”

The scholarship, which is through the Kent State University Foundation, will be awarded to a Columbiana County nursing student. Jan and Bob both attended Kent State, so Sally decided that would be a good place to give back.

“I was proud of both of them,” Sally said. “They were both very good students. It was just nice to see them both pursue something they were passionate about.”

Despite living in Florida, Hannah would spend every summer with her grandparents in Leetonia, where she rode horses and hauled them to Beaver Creek. Sally said she got all of her country fun from Ohio and all of her city fun in Florida. Sally and Bob would sometimes even stay with Hannah and Jan in Florida, where she remembers watching Hannah play softball.

“I’m just trying my best to make something good out of something horrible,” Sally said. “What else could you do? I’m just grateful that I am able to.”

Sally has waited for a trial for 14 months, but she keeps her head up. For now, she’ll continue to make some good from every bad situation thrown at her, and the scholarship to honor her family is a great start

“In order to create some positivity out of something horrible, I wanted to start this nursing scholarship in Columbiana County,” Sally said. “It’s sort of a way to show how proud I am of both of them.”

slendak@mojonews.com