The Sonya Rine Memorial Scholarship was established in 2004 by her husband, Jim Rine. Elna was born in Monroe City, Indiana, in 1938, to Lester and Pauline Parker. Both her parents were educators: Lester was an administrator/superintendent and Pauline taught the third grade.
Sonya loved to play the piano and had a lovely, natural soprano singing voice. Among other activities, she was active in 4-H and attended Hoosier Girls State in 1955. She enjoyed international travel.
Sonya received a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics in June, 1960 from Purdue University. While at Purdue, she met her husband James (Jim) Rine. They raised three wonderful boys, Mark, Kevin, and Eric.
Once the boys were out of college, Sonya decided to pursue something she had always wanted to do: interior design. She investigated the local educational options and enrolled at Ivy Tech Community College. She received her Associates Degree in Interior Design Technology in May, 1992. She began doing free-lance work (as Rine Interiors) and joined the Interior Design Society.
This scholarship was created as a loving tribute to Sonya to help students pursuing degree in Environmental/Interior Design with preference to students 25 years-old or more. In addition to this scholarship, the Sonya Rine Studio was dedicated in 2004 on the campus of Ivy Tech to help students pursue their interior design dreams.