Saint Martin’s Abbey announces major gift to university

Saint Martin’s Abbey in Lacey has announced a major gift to the university the Benedictine monks established more than 100 years ago.

The Abbey combined two bequests and some of its own funds to create a new endowment for the university, Abbot Neal Roth told The Olympian.

“It comes out to a total of $601,895,” he said.

One of the gifts was from the family of retired Saint Martin’s teacher Father Thaddaeus Arledge, who died April 8 after being injured in a fall. He was 87.

The other gift was from the family of Father Terence Wager, who taught at Saint Martin’s and also served as a priest at St. Columban Parish in Yelm, Roth said. Wager died of cancer in 2010.

The endowment, which will be known as the Pohl-Wager Scholarship, is expected to generate $20,000 annually that will be available for Saint Martin’s students, according to Cecelia Loveless, vice president of the university’s Office of Institutional Advancement.

“It shows the commitment that the Abbey has to the future of the university, and their love for our students and their support for the education and values and beliefs that our students are getting when they come to Saint Martin’s,” she said.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Saint Martin’s Abbey announces major gift to university."