Texas City, TX – August 22, 2024 – Mary Ellen and Charles T. “Chuck” Doyle today announce the multi-million-dollar endowment of funds at the Greater Houston Community Foundation to support local organizations including: Texas City ISD Foundation for the Future, College of the Mainland, St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Community, Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, and special projects in Texas City, Hitchcock, and Galveston County.
As residents of Texas City since 1956, the Doyles have been active in supporting their community – serving their City, County, and local non-profits, as well as running a successful community bank.
From Chuck’s service in public office as City Commissioner and Mayor and Mary Ellen’s service as the first female President of United Way Galveston County Mainland to enriching the public space through art donations and helping develop leadership programs for area students, the Doyles know the value of giving back. With these endowments, they plan to continue to support and grow their community for many years to come.
While serving as Mayor, Chuck Doyle helped Texas City become an All-America City, raising over two million dollars in private funds for artwork, creating parks and trails, building a convention center, and beautifying the city to make it a place the citizens want to call home. One purpose of the Doyles’ endowment is to continue to support local projects to keep Texas City a quality place to live, work, and play. Recognizing Hitchcock as the birthplace of Texas First Bank, the Doyles also include the Hitchcock community and Galveston County for consideration of endowment funds to enable those communities to continue to grow and prosper.
Realizing the future of the community lies with the next generation, the Doyles helped found the Texas City ISD Foundation for the Future and have made major contributions to College of the Mainland (COM) as the educational centerpiece of Galveston County. Their endowments will provide continued support of the semi-annual Leadership Education and Development Series (LEADS), which provides leadership training and scholarships to select junior and senior high school students throughout Galveston County, and they will continue their support of COM with projects like the Mitchell Chuoke Jr. Plumbing Program.
The Doyles were a driving force behind the construction of the new St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church building, the Ponzini Family Life Center, and the Rectory, which unified all buildings on the same campus with Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School. The endowment for St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Community and Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Texas City and Queen of Peace in La Marque will go towards maintenance and various qualifying projects as determined by organizational leadership to continue to support the religious community that has supported their family for so many years and ensure a beautiful place of worship for future generations.
In addition to these local endowments, the OU Foundation recently announced that Mary Ellen and Chuck Doyle have endowed over $1M to their alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, for the enrichment of education through scholarships, student support, and top faculty recruitment.
“As we look back at our last sixty-eight years in Galveston County, we know that the future of our community is found in our students and our churches, and we feel the future is bright,” shared Chuck Doyle. “We know that the Foundation for the Future, COM, St. Mary’s, Queen of Peace, and Mt. Olivet will accomplish needed projects going forward, and it is an honor to be able to personally support these great institutions and the values they represent in our community.”
Pictured From left to right: Guy L. Patton, M.A., President, OU Foundation; Megan Doyle Wilson, OU Graduate, 2019; Kristen Lazalier, Senior Director, Principal Gifts, OU Foundation; Mary Ellen Doyle, OU Graduate, 1956; Charles T. “Chuck” Doyle, OU Graduate, 1956.
