AURORA—A    generous gift from Ed Regole, longtime friend of Marmion Academy, will provide for a long-awaited renovation of the school’s varsity baseball field and the multi-sport Fichtel Field and Regole Stadium. 

 

Regole, a Marmion graduate and St. Charles resident, died on Aug. 15, 2022. 

 

“After many years of planning, because of the generosity of Mr. Regole, we are very excited to be able to announce the renovation of our fields!” Marmion president Anthony Tinerella said in response to the donation. 

 

“With 85% of our students participating in a sport, it is our hope these renovations will greatly enhance the already unique experience students have at Marmion.  This gift will have an immediate, positive impact on our current students,” he said. 

 

Those renovations include updates to Nardone Varsity Baseball Field: artificially turfing the infield; installing new batting cages and bullpen areas for both home and opposing teams; and installing a new scoreboard.

 

Improvements to Fichtel Field will include widening the current playing field (bringing it up to soccer regulation field event standards); installing synthetic turf and new lighting; and moving the track. Fichtel Field’s changes will benefit the school’s football, soccer, lacrosse, track and field, cross country and band programs. 

 

Regole Stadium’s lighting will be repositioned and converted to more efficient LED fixtures, an improvement that will result in substantial utility savings and an enhanced practice and competition environment for five sports, as well as the Marmion-Rosary Band.

 

“Ed was a graduate of the class of 1950 and a loyal and committed friend of Marmion from the day he graduated, until the day he died. His generosity put us in the position to be able to move this project forward,” said Father Charles Reichenbacher, the school’s director of planned giving. 

 

“When Ed was a student here, he always wanted to participate in sports, particularly in football, but he was never able to achieve that dream because he had to head home after school each day to work on the family dairy farm.”

 

“Marmion was a very special place to Ed; he considered his gifts through the years to be his legacy,” Father Reichenbacher said. 

 

Kathleen Hausmann, executive director of advancement, added: “Ed’s desire to be a hero for Marmion was obvious, as he longed to provide a ‘game-changing’ gift that would be widely impactful for years to come. It seems only fitting this time of year that we receive his gift and the opportunity to complete these game-changing renovations.” 

 

Marmion intends to offer rental opportunities to outside groups when the fields are not being used.

 

The project is expected to be completed by the beginning of the 2023 academic school year, with the plan for all five sports to have their first home games of the season on the newly renovated fields. 

 

—Contributed by Maria A. Asher, associate director of advancement events.