Supporting a Moravian Education for Students

What part of Moravian do we carry inside when our only tether to the school is memories? Even though time and distance may loosen the ties, the bond endures. An example of this lifelong connection is the unexpected gift that Robert M. Amey ’57 left Moravian this past spring.

While Amey, of Great Falls, Virginia, was not actively engaged with the university during his lifetime, his Moravian education left an impression that never faded. When he passed away in June 2021, at the age of 93, a bequest to the school was discovered in his will.

Established in April 2022, the Robert M. Amey ’57 Memorial Scholarship Fund provides financial support to undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need in good academic standing. It focuses on students who are interested in pursuing a degree in business with a preference for military veterans or active service members, or dependents of parents or guardians who are active, retired, or veterans of the military.

Amey was born on a farm in Stewartsville, New Jersey, about a half-hour from Bethlehem. When he graduated from high school, he entered Moravian for a time, then left to go into the US Air Force, where he became a staff sergeant. After he was discharged, he returned to Moravian, this time on the G.I. Bill. He graduated from Moravian in 1957 with a bachelor of science in economics and business administration and went on to have a successful career as a businessman and entrepreneur.

He was president and founder of Baby Products Inc. and Kay’s Stork Shops Inc., baby furniture companies located in Virginia and Maryland. He was a distributor of the Stroll-O-Chair. Cutting edge for its time, it was a stroller that could be turned into other pieces of baby furniture, such as a high chair, car seat, and bassinet.

Valentino Sacco, Amey’s friend and the trustee of his estate, says, “He always knew he wanted to be a salesman. He had the natural talent and the head for business, but he needed the education Moravian gave him in order to make his plans a reality. Moravian taught him how to be an entrepreneur. He liked it because it was a small school with small classes, and students received individual attention.”

Amey helped design and build his own home, which he and his wife, Mary, named Stoneridge. One of his greatest joys was gardening. He personally planted every tree and shrub on his property, which was designed in a formal English style. The highlight of the gardens was the topiary that he shaped and tended.

Since Robert and Mary, who were married for 57 years before she passed away in 2015, had no children, he focused his giving on extended family, friends, and places of higher education. He left money to the waiters of the restaurant he patronized for 35 years, says Sacco, and to his gardener so he could pay off his mortgage.

“It was never all about him. It was always about others,” says Sacco.

Sacco’s respect and admiration for Amey runs deep. Amey gave Sacco his first opportunity in the business world. Sacco looked to Amey as a mentor and wants to honor him by promoting his legacy through the bequest. “Robert wanted the scholarship to go to business students because that was important to him,” Sacco says. “Because he felt the education he got at Moravian was a defining point for his future success.”

While Robert Amey’s life kept him busy with innovations and opportunities, he never forgot how Moravian set him on the path to success. Along with his generous gift, Amey left us his Moravian College diploma and a newspaper clipping of his graduation. These, along with a portrait given by Sacco, are on display in Reeves Library. Although we leave Moravian, Moravian never really leaves us.

—Therese Ciesinski

To learn more about supporting our students through endowed scholarships, please visit moravian. ed/lightingtheway