ESCANABA – The staff at Holy Name Catholic School are thankful for the generosity of alumni and donors like Ken and Pat Gartland, the late Dale Richer and his wife, Donna Richer.

Gartland and Richer (on behalf of her late husband, Dale), recently presented a check for $50,000 from the income (interest and dividends) earned on the fund that was created years ago called Staff Support Endowment Fund by Alumni and Friends of Holy Name Catholic School, which is held by the Community Foundation for Delta County. The check was presented to HNCS Principal Michelle Brief and Holy Name’s Pastoral Designate Father Timothy Ferguson, pastor of St. Joseph and St. Patrick Parish in Escanaba, at the CFFDC office on Jan. 8.

The purpose of the fund is to provide annual economic support to the administration and staff of HNCS. Brief said, “We are so grateful for all of our supporters. The Gartland and Richer families have been–and continue to be–large supporters of Holy Name, both spiritually and financially.”

“We’re giving back some of what God has given us,” Ken Gartland said. “Holy Name is a phenomenal school. We’re confident it will grow and prosper in the future.”

Holy Name Catholic School is dear to the Gartland’s and Richer’s hearts. Both Ken and his wife, Pat are graduates of Holy Name High School (Holy Name housed a Catholic high school in Escanaba from 1954 to 1971.) Ken graduated in 1958 and Pat in 1959. Ken was also on the Holy Name School Board in the 1960s and the Scholarship Board in the 1970s. All seven of Ken and Pat’s children also graduated from Holy Name and some of their grandchildren as well.

The late Dale Richer is also a 1958 graduate of HNHS. Donna and Dale’s daughter, Renee, is a 1986 graduate of HNCS and their granddaughter Camille, (Renee’s daughter), is a current eighth grader at Holy Name.

Holy Name High School–A Chesterton Academy reopened in 2021–the 50th anniversary of the original high school’s closure in 1971. The current school, located at 2203 7th Ave. South, started with 12 students and has since grown to 25 students, with seven graduating in this school’s third senior class in the spring of 2026.

The Staff Support Endowment by Alumni and Friends of Holy Name Catholic School, of which Ken Gartland and Dale Richer are the original fund holders, joins with several other funds within the CFFDC that support scholarships and operating expenses for Holy Name.

“We want to encourage other Holy Name graduates to give back and are hoping we can inspire others to support the school,” Ken said.

For more information on Holy Name Catholic School or Holy Name High School–A Chesterton Academy, call the school office at 906-786-7550, visit the elementary school at 409 S. 22nd St., or the high school at 2203 7th Ave. So., Escanaba.