Thornburg/Donnelly Fund Maintains Family Ties

Strong Connections to Culver Continue

The Thornburg and Donnelly families have a rich history in Marshall County. Ralph and Hazel Thornburg owned a Guernsey dairy farm in Hibbard, between Culver and Plymouth. They had two children: Ralph, who was killed in a World War II fighter plane, and Barbara (Bea).

Barbara graduated from Culver High School, then Lasell Junior College (MA). Upon returning to Culver, she worked in the Culver Academies admissions department and met her husband. Colonel Alfred J. Donnelly, a Culver faculty member from 1937-1975, had many talents. Math instructor, Woodcraft administrator, counselor of Company D, academic dean, first holder of the William Pitt Oakes Chair of Mathematics, co-author of several nationally-used textbooks: these headings summarized his professional work. It was his wit and personality that impressed most. Al graduated from Harvard and came to Indiana “because it was evident that there was something about Culver that kept boyish enthusiasm alive in grown men."

Barbara and Al had three children: Shaun, Lela, and Susie. Al and Lela have passed away and, while Barbara continues to live in the area, Shaun and Susie are on opposite ends of the country. Shaun has spent most of his career with the U.S. Department of State in a wide range of roles. Since retiring from the State Department in 2008, he remains active in the Washington D.C. area. He and his wife have two sons, Alex and Eric. Susie and her husband and daughter, Julie, live in Portland, Oregon. Susie teaches humanities in a middle school.

Shaun established the Thornburg-Donnelly Fund at MCCF to honor his mother and maintain family ties to the community. The Fund supports the Culver-Union Township Emergency Medical Services, the Culver Union Township Fire Department, the Culver-Union Township Public Library, and the United Way of Marshall County.