Mr. Eck’s donation to the Beatrice M. Eck Endowment for Catholic School Education in Lycoming County, named for his late first wife, is the largest single donation ever made in the history of the Diocese of Scranton.
Mr. Eck’s gift was presented to the Most Rev. Joseph F. Martino, D.D., Hist. E.D., Bishop of Scranton, by members of the Endowment’s board of directors in ceremonies held in conjunction with the celebration of Catholic Schools Week at St. Boniface School, Williamsport. Approximately 750 Lycoming County Catholic school students, teachers and administrators gathered at St. Boniface Church for a special liturgy celebrated by Bishop Martino preceding the check presentation.
Since 2000, Mr. Eck has also made additional significant donations amounting to $1,228,000 in his first wife’s name to the educational endowment, and he has encouraged others to do the same. The total amount contributed to support Catholic school education in Lycoming County is $3,228,000.
“The endowment is an instrument purposely established to keep Catholic school affordable for everyone,” said Mr. Eck. “I know people don’t want to hear preaching about money, but how can we keep our schools open unless we -- who have received so much from them and now have the means -- contribute back?” Mr. Eck stated.
“I am so very grateful for the immense generosity of this gift, and most especially, for Mr. Clarence Eck’s and the Eck family’s commitment to support quality Catholic education in Lycoming County,” stated the Most Reverend Joseph F. Martino, D.D., Hist. E.D., Bishop of Scranton. “Mr. Eck’s own Catholic education, and that which he has provided to his own family, speaks volumes about the depth of his faith. I applaud his effort to help other families in the county who might not otherwise be able to send their children to Catholic schools.”
The endowment, established in 1999 and administered by a Board of Trustees, supports one secondary school, Bishop Neumann Junior/Senior High School on Penn Street, and four elementary schools, all in Williamsport: Immaculate Conception School, Jacks Hollow Road; St. Boniface School, Franklin Street; St. Joseph School, West Edwin Street; and St. Ann School on Northway Road. The five schools are also supported by 11 parishes in the Lycoming Deanery. To date, over 2,000 families and 4,500 students in Lycoming County have benefited from more than $881,500, of which $619,000 in direct tuition assistance has been provided from this endowment.
The endowment is administered by the Diocese of Scranton through the auspices of the Board of Trustees which includes the diocesan superintendent of schools, a pastor from the Lycoming Deanery who does not administer a Catholic elementary school, and financial experts from Lycoming and Lackawanna counties.
Potential grant recipients from Lycoming County must file a standard financial application with the Diocese of Scranton’s Schools Office by May 31 to be eligible for tuition assistance awards in the next school year. For more information regarding the endowment or tuition assistance, contact the Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Scranton, 300 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503, or call 570-207-2251.
Citing the blessings of his own faith and the guidance he received from the Sisters who educated him and his children, and with the expressed intent of keeping a quality Catholic school education affordable, the Diocese of Scranton has announced that Lycoming County developer/businessman Clarence L. Eck has today donated nearly $2 million to an endowment to support the five diocesan Catholic schools in that county.
The above is a press release issued on April 22nd, 2004 by the Diocese of Scranton