A legacy of Catholic faith and education

The UP Catholic Foundation gratefully announces the establishment of the Mose and Leah Theoret Catholic School Tuition Assistance Endowment. Marie Theoret, daughter of Mose and Leah, created the fund to provide financial support to the Holy Name Catholic School in Escanaba and St. Francis de Sales Catholic School in Manistique with the purpose of assisting those students with financial need.

Marie Theoret, the oldest of six children of Mose and Leah Theoret, graduated from Escanaba High School in 1941. She received a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin and taught at Pulaski High School in Milwaukee for 35 years. She served as English Department Chair at PHS for 25 years. 

After her retirement, Marie relocated to Flat Rock, MI to care for her aging mother, Leah. During her nearly 30 years of retirement, she was extremely active in faith formation and evangelization at Holy Family Parish in Flat Rock. Marie served as a weekday lector, evangelization coordinator, and taught CCD. She was also a strong supporter of Holy Name School and St. Francis de Sales School where her nephew Fr. Glenn Theoret was stationed for 12 years. 

Mose and Leah, Marie’s parents and Fr. Glenn’s grandparents, owned and operated a general merchandise store in the community of Flat Rock, located between Escanaba and Gladstone. Leah also taught for several years at Naden School, a one-room schoolhouse in Flat Rock. Mose and Leah were founding life-long members of Holy Family Parish in Flat Rock. Catholic faith and education were values that they held with high regard throughout their lives. 

To keep the memory of her beloved parents and their strong values of Catholic education alive, Marie wished to establish a tuition assistance fund in their name to help make Catholic School education affordable for all families who want sound Catholic foundations for their children. She did this by naming the Church a beneficiary of her IRA. 

Marie passed away at the age of 92 at the Bishop Noah Home in Escanaba. Upon her death, her IRA paid out nearly $170,000 to start the Mose and Leah Theoret Catholic School Tuition Assistance Endowment Fund. The fund will benefit countless students and families long into the future. We are thankful for the many gifts Marie has given to the Church. The goal of the extended Theoret family is to continue to grow the fund in the years to come. 

To make a donation to the Mose and Leah Theoret Catholic School Tuition Assistance Endowment Fund, please visit http://upcatholicfoundation.org/.

To learn more ways to plan a faith-sustaining gift to the Church after your lifetime, visit  https://dioceseofmarquette.planmygift.org/.