Left: Rev. Tom ’69 and Mary Peoples ’70/M ’98 Babler Right: Rev. Dr. Lynn ’67 and Donna Allison ’67 Pries
DONOR PROFILE
THE ROLE OF FAITH AND THE CHAPLAINCY:
Support for endowment campaign flows from service, faith and commitment The new $3 million Chaplaincy, Faith and Action Endowment—part of the Brilliant Future Campaign—will secure the future of the College chaplain position and ensure that North Central’s faith traditions continue to transform student lives. Below, two alumni couples explain why they’re supporting this critically important initiative. Rev. Tom ’69 and Mary Peoples ’70/M ’98 Babler met on Mary’s third day on campus, when a common friend introduced them. They’ve been fast friends ever since, recently celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. But theirs wasn’t the only lifelong friendship built at the College. “Our family of North Central friends has roots in the past, but it’s very forward-looking,” observed Tom. Richard Peacock ’69, who founded the Dr. Jacob Sackmann Endowed Scholarship for Peacemaking with his wife Janice Fellers ’69 Peacock, was Tom’s roommate. Former College chaplain Rev. Mike Moser ’70 was in Mary’s graduating class, and Rev. Dr. Lynn Pries ’67
and his wife Donna Allison ’67 Pries, are active members of Community Church where they shared friendship and ministry with Tom during his 15-year pastorate there.
their worldviews. “We were both from small farming communities and small high schools,” said Tom. “So coming to Naperville and North Central was a big transition for us.”
The Bablers have also dedicated their lives to service. Mary taught elementary school and earned her master’s of education at North Central in 1998. Tom led several United Methodist congregations while remaining active with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, where he received his master of divinity degree in 1973 and serves as a life trustee. He received North Central’s Wall of Witness award in 2014.
Mary met Rev. Larry Bouldin as a prospective student, and during her first year began tutoring students in Chicago through a program offered through his office. "I learned then that the world was a much bigger place than I had realized,” said Mary. “That experience really expanded my horizons.”
The couple credits North Central’s chaplains with significantly expanding
It’s no surprise that the couple have been loyal supporters of the College for decades, giving to the Albright-Wesley Society, Cardinal Operation Hope and Help,
“We want students to be able to say, like we did, ‘This is where I did what I didn’t expect to do.’” REV. TOM BABLER ’69
