More college scholarships will be available to local high school students with today's gift of $1.8 million to a local Rotary Club.

Executors for the estate of Wally Iverson will deliver a check for $1,821,028 to the Medford Rogue Rotary Club today during the group's noon meeting at the Red Lion Hotel. The money more than doubles the Rotary chapter's existing scholarship fund, said Linda Evans, president of its foundation.

"This is a huge amount of money," Evans said.

The donation comes from the sale of a Medford apartment complex that Iverson, a longtime Rotary member, bequeathed to the club, Evans said. Iverson died in May last year at age 88 after amassing a multimillion-dollar fortune by building and owning apartment units.

The lifelong Medford resident was hailed as one of the community's foremost philanthropists, championing health and education causes.

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"Here's a man who ... never, never sought to be rich but was just a hard-working person," said Don Hildebrand, Rotary member and friend of Iverson.

Iverson was fond of saying he lived frugally, Hildebrand recalled. He drove a 1960s Ford Galaxie before retiring it several years before his death. Visitors to Iverson's apartment complexes were frequently surprised that the landscaper out front was also the property owner and manager, Hildebrand said.

The club is looking to set up a new scholarship named for Iverson to build on the existing endowment in his memory, which gave $9,000 to five students last year. The Oregon Community Foundation will invest the funds, and Rotary will issue scholarships amounting to about 5 percent of the fund every year, Evans said. One-quarter of the money is earmarked for students attending Iverson's alma mater, Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich.

"He had a real passion for helping students reach their goals," Evans said.

Iverson had previously donated more than $220,000 to the Rotary Foundation for scholarships for high school students.

More Rotary scholarships are possible than in past years, and awards likely will be in greater amounts, Evans said. Scholarships are open to residents of Talent, Phoenix, Medford, Central Point and Eagle Point, said Cristina Sanz, charitable gift planner for OCF. Applications are to be handled by the Oregon Student Assistance Commission, a scholarship clearinghouse, Sanz added.