Ralph Kerr's words certainly resonated with his daughter, Kim, and her husband, Terry, when he told them that they had "been blessed by God in a financial way," and encouraged her not to forget her alma mater, Houghton College.
The couple, Kim and Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Sabres, have donated $12 million to Houghton, a small, four-year Christian college about 65 miles southwest of Buffalo in Allegany County.
This is a gift from a 1991 graduate -- she was a cheerleader and played in the wind ensemble -- who appreciated what the institution had to offer, then and now. It's also a gift that will surely alleviate any financial concerns as the college embarks upon a new athletic endeavor.
The money will be used to build a new athletic complex because the college is expanding the number of teams and stepping up to NCAA Division III athletics. The college is looking at a campus site off Route 11 for a new sports complex. The complex would include a field house with a running track for all-weather training and turf fields for the baseball and softball teams as well as the men's and women's lacrosse teams.
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The Pegulas have donated to Houghton in the past, but not on such a transformational scale. The only larger gift for the school came from Wilson Greatbatch, inventor of the implantable heart pacemaker. He donated $15 million to the college in 2000 for the Greatbatch School of Music.
These impressive gifts for a college of 1,100 students founded in 1883 as a seminary are a reflection of its influence on its students.
Terry Pegula is known for his generosity and for recognizing the contribution his alma mater, Penn State, made to him. He donated $88 million in 2010 to Penn State, the largest private gift in the school's history, to build an arena and start a Division I hockey program.
Kerr, a retired school superintendent who teaches in the Houghton College's evening degree program and will spearhead the project for the Pegulas, was right when he said, "Houghton was a very good experience for her." Now his daughter and her husband have generously given a gift that will benefit generations of students to come.
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