After a 47-year-career of working as a teacher, a principal, and a school superintendent, Mary Randall has a keen sense of what students need. Because she worked in both public and parochial school districts over the years, Mary came to notice a disparity in resources for parochial schools, particularly in the arts. With the added cost of tuition for Catholic students, Mary was always looking for ways to provide materials and opportunities without creating a financial burden for families. 

"She'd come home and talk about how much need there was," said Tom, who watched Mary spend thousands of dollars to purchase materials for her students as needs arose."If she didn't buy it, it wasn't going to happen." Mary wrote many grants to supply music and instruments, and Tom helped her with countless projects over the years that helped enrich her classes.

"Music and art are such a critical piece of a child's development," said Mary, as she recalled how integral music and art was in her family when she was growing up. "When you have a child who appreciates music and the arts, it will stay with them for the rest of their lives." The Randalls, who have been married for 41 years, both began their education in Catholic schools. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, Tom completed his MBA at UW-Milwaukee and worked in business for several years. He then served as Camp Ranger for the St. Paul Indianhead Council of the Boy Scouts of America (now Northstar Council) for 30 years, after which he worked as a carpenter. The couple met when Mary worked at the camp as a summer counselor. She earned her undergraduate degree and doctorate at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

Tom and Mary are active members of St. Paul's Catholic Church in Bloomer and were inspired to create a fund based on their faith. "We would like the parochial schools in Chippewa County to have the same opportunities as the public schools," Mary said. "Appreciating God's word and appreciating the arts is such a beautiful combination. Those are blessings we can share."

The Tom and Mary Randall Education Fund will serve K-8 grade music and art programming for Catholic schools in Chippewa County.