A L U M N I I M PA C T
Paying It Forward by Paying It Back Three days into his freshman year at Wareham High School,
To call Almy’s four years at Tabor impactful would be an
Robb Almy ’93 got a phone call that changed his life.
understatement.
Encouraged by a family friend, Almy had applied to Tabor the previous spring. He was accepted but was told there was not sufficient financial aid
“I learned so much there,” he says. “Not just academically but ethically and morally in terms of hard work, perseverance and proper behavior. As a child
for him to attend.
whose parents were divorced, my
“The tuition was like eight or
dad was still in my life, but it was
nine-thousand dollars back
never the same. I had some male
then,” Almy says, “but I knew
role models who taught me about
we couldn’t afford that. My
respect and dignity and treating
parents had been divorced for
other people well.”
some time and were blue-collar,
When Almy graduated from Tabor,
working-class folks. My mom
he took these life lessons with him.
was a nurse’s aide. When she
He attended college in Virginia
wasn’t doing that she was
where he met his wife, Diana, and
waitressing. My dad drove a
entered the ministry. He’s been an
truck for Wonder Bread.”
ordained United Methodist pastor
Almy was born and raised in
for over twenty years and currently
Wareham, one town over from
teaches at Fredericksburg Christian
Marion. After he received his
ROBB ALMY '93
admissions acceptance, he wrote
School. He’s also found success as a real estate investor, which has
a heartfelt letter to Jay Stroud, Tabor’s then head of school.
allowed him to achieve a long-held dream.
“I just thanked him for the offer and explained that I
“I’ve always tried to give to Tabor’s annual fund on a
wouldn’t be able to come due to funding issues. But I
regular basis. And I’ve always had it in my heart that one
also said that if funding ever became available, I’d be
day I wanted to give back what I had received so that
very interested in attending.”
maybe somebody else that might not have all the means
When Almy’s phone rang at the start of his freshman year, it was Stroud. “He told me that some money had become available and if I was still interested, he’d like to see about me coming to Tabor.” Almy transferred the following week. The opportunity came from the Harry J. Decas ’82 Memorial Scholarship, a fund set up by the Decas family and awarded to students from Wareham in memory of Harry’s enduring spirit.
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ANNUAL REPORT on Giving | 2020-2021
to go to Tabor could do so.” When Almy talks about giving back what he received, he means it quite literally. He recently pledged a gift that matches all of his financial aid while at Tabor. Poetically, these funds will be used to support the Decas Scholarship. “The way I’ve kind of thought about it,” Almy says, “is that I’m trying to pay it forward by paying it back.”
