Dave Ziegler and Joyce Thompson met at Pius X, graduating together in 1967. This year, they celebrated their golden anniversary – 50 years of marriage rooted in faith!

Together the Ziegler’s decided to celebrate this sacramental milestone with a $50,000 gift for Pius X. They hope others will be inspired to support today’s students and teachers.

“Joyce and I are planning to attend our 55th Pius reunion in late September.  When we are in Lincoln we would like to meet with you and give you a donation of $50,000.  Joyce and I recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary and we discussed how to honor this occasion and chose this donation.  Joyce and I met at Pius and if this had not happened our lives would have been radically different in so many ways.  It is likely that the service organization we founded and ran for 40 years would not have happened.  Jasper Mountain celebrates its 40th anniversary this year as one of the top treatment centers for abused children in the world.”

The link between Pius X and Jasper Mountain

“(The Jasper Mountain) organization has grown as Pius has grown and the two are remarkably similar with number of employees (135), annual budget (11m) and size of facilities (80,000 sq. ft.).  Joyce and I have now stepped down from running the organization so younger leaders can take our work into the future.  We have been greatly blessed all these years and we want to give back and provide other young men and women an opportunity to establish a solid academic and spiritual foundation by attending Pius as we were able to do.”

Outstanding Alumni honor

In 2010, the Dave and Joyce were honored as Outstanding Alumni at Pius X. The write-up included:

“Together they founded a home for abused children called Jasper Mountain in 1982, on a beautiful ranch in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Jasper, Ore. There they live and work with children from all across the country whom others have considered a lost cause. Dave is a licensed psychologist and Joyce is the support services supervisor at their expanding treatment center. Jasper Mountain has been called one of the Nation’s premiere treatment centers for children, and is recognized as the most outstanding program of its kind anywhere.”