A special ceremony was held on Oct. 11 to celebrate the new Wesley Alumni House, named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Wesley Sr. of Newtown, PA.
A special dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Oct. 11, kicking off The Pennington School’s Homecoming festivities and celebrating the opening of the Wesley Alumni House.
The House was named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Wesley Sr. of Newtown, PA, whose generosity, channeled through the Joseph and Marion Wesley Family Foundation, bestowed the second largest gift ever given to the Pennington School by one family, and the largest gift ever given by grandparents.
Joseph L. Wesley Sr. is the visionary founder of the AmQuip Corporation, “The Crane People,” now known as AmQuip Crane Rental LLC, a leading provider of crane rental equipment and related services across the country. All ten of the Wesley’s grandchildren attended The Pennington School.
The newly-restored Wesley Alumni House, formerly known as Lowellden, will be a center where alumni activities can be held throughout the year. The reconstruction of the building preserves the historical integrity of the School’s campus and the larger Pennington community. The Wesley’s gift will also underwrite the gathering space to be found within the new Kenneth Kai Tai Yen Humanities Building, which is currently under construction. The space will be dedicated to cross-disciplinary assemblies, meetings and presentations within the field of humanities.
The ceremony opened with an invocation by the Reverend Varlyna D. Wright, Capital District Superintendent of the Greater New Jersey Conference of the United Methodist Church. Dr. William S. Hawkey welcomed four generations of Wesleys, and Peter Tucci, chair of the Board of Trustees, thanked them. John Biddiscombe ‘63, president of the Alumni Association Board, then spoke about the successful efforts to bring more alumni back to Pennington this year. Finally, Joseph Wesley discussed the value of education and the motivation for his bestowal before the ceremonial ribbon-cutting took place.
Peter Tucci, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said, “Pennington thrives today in large measure because of the philanthropic support provided over the past 175 years by the generations who preceded us. The Wesleys have given us an outstanding gift during a very exciting time for the School, with new leadership and a campus plan that will transform the learning experience for current and future students.”
