STE. GEN COUPLE ESTABLISH SCHOOL'S FIRST ENDOWED CHAIR

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Larry and Donna Marler retired to live in a community that has benefited economically from preserving its history. Tourism and historic preservation are interrelated say the couple, who have established scholarships in both at Southeast.

Businesses can come to town and can leave, Larry Marler says. "A community's history is something nobody can take away from you."

Now the Marlers, both of whom attended Southeast, have provided the money to establish the first ever endowed chair in the university's 128-year history. Saturday, Southeast President Dr. Kenneth Dobbins announced the creation of the Larry and Donna Marler Endowed Chair in Historic Preservation during a crowded luncheon at the Ste. Genevieve Hotel.

The professor hired to fill the Marler Chair will "expand community development in small communities in the university's primary service area through the protection of significant historic buildings and landscapes by raising awareness of community heritage and through promotion of this heritage," Dobbins said.

Combining heritage with tourism will be part of the job, the president added.

He called Ste. Genevieve "a marvelous example to the entire state of Missouri in demonstrating how a community can capitalize on its past by preserving its historic structures and building a solid future with tourism as one of the key elements. I hope the other historic communities in our region will take note of your success."

Larry Marler is a 1957 Southeast graduate who majored in earth science and marketing. He was president of Marler Business Systems in St. Louis County when he retired. Donna Marler is a Ste. Genevieve native who attended Southeast for two years and graduated from Fontebonne College. She was a schoolteacher for 24 years.

Endowing the chair was an opportunity to act on their belief in the value -- both culturally and economically -- of historic preservation.

"This was something we could do while we were alive and could see the benefits," Larry Marler said.

"This was a way for us to help the area preserve its history," Donna Marler said.