Strategic Vision
Goal 6
Financial Sustainability
Provide for financial sustainability and support the mission of the school and the goals of the strategic plan.
Planned Gift
Caps a Lifetime of Philanthropy Thomas MacCabe may have lived in Florida and New Hampshire later in his life, but Philadelphia and Penn Charter never felt too far away. MacCabe, a Mt. Airy native, attended Penn Charter in the late 1940s and would have graduated in 1949, but instead finished his education at the Hill School. Still, he always viewed PC as his school. MacCabe died in February 2015. A self-made man with a successful career in the manufacture of electrification systems, as well as a laudable history of philanthropy (especially the arts), MacCabe left a bequest to Penn Charter, earmarked for the performing arts. Although it has been nearly 70 years since MacCabe was a student at PC, his classmates still remember him vividly and fondly. “He was a very outgoing guy—a storyteller, adventurous,” said Bill Welch, MacCabe’s friend and president of the Class of 1949. “After he graduated from Lehigh he bought a house in Flourtown, and after only a few months of living there he was running for mayor. Just a very well-known, popular, gregarious guy.” After Lehigh, MacCabe went to work for his father before he ultimately founded the electrical engineering company MacCabe Electrical Conductors Inc. in 1970. The company is still in operation today under the direction of his sons Brad and Tom III. MacCabe was a lover of the arts, sports—he played football at PC—animals, politics and giving to charities. His success in business allowed him to take part in many philanthropic endeavors in the Philadelphia area and beyond. He was part of a group that bought, preserved and operated the Keswick Theatre in 1987; MacCabe also was also lead donor to the Barnstormers Theatre in New Hampshire, near his summer home in Wolfeboro.
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William Penn Charter School
MacCabe retired to Florida and made such an impact in his charitable ventures in the area that singers from the Sarasota Opera House performed “Ave Maria” of their own accord at his Florida memorial service. Other causes near and dear to MacCabe were: Great Kids, a daycare center for children in need that he sponsored in Florida; the Rotary Club of Sarasota; Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro; and the Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia Orchestra and, of course, Penn Charter. “He especially got re-involved with PC after I sent my sons there,” Brad MacCabe said of his father. “He was all the way in whenever he was involved with something.” MacCabe got fulfillment from giving back to the school that helped mold him. “He liked to be a leader in fundraising, and would invite PC alumni based near Sarasota over to the house,” Brad said. “He got to come back and see his grandkids (Ian MacCabe OPC ’14; Kevin MacCabe OPC ’17) play sports there. He loved Penn Charter. He couldn’t say enough good things about it.” PC
– Ed Morrone OPC ’04
2016-17 Annual Report of Gifts