For more than 35 consecutive years, Ellen Walters Gallahue ’63 has been a loyal Regis supporter.
“My Regis education opened so many doors for me, and I think it is important to give so that future Regis students will have the same opportunities,” says Gallahue. “The college depends on alumni giving to attract and offer scholarships to worthy students, and I want to help in any way I can.”
After graduating, Gallahue was a Regis Lay Apostle in St. Thomas, USVI, where she had the opportunity to combine her love of travel, volunteering, and teaching.
“Regis gave me the best start in my adult life,” Gallahue says. “From my experience being a Lay Apostle I quickly learned that giving back feels really good and I knew this would always play an important role in my life.”
From St. Thomas, Gallahue moved home to Quincy, Massachusetts, and went on to teach high school home economics for ten years before she started her family. Gallahue credits her mother, Ellen Donovan Walters '36, for instilling philanthropic values from a young age. She vividly remembers her mother writing a check each year to Regis and expressing how important it was to give back to the school that made her who she was today.
“My mother was a widower of seven children, so even though her donations were small, they were made with great sacrifice,” Gallahue says. “It was so important to her, and I am proud to be following in her footsteps.”
"My Regis education opened so many doors for me, and I think it is important to give so that future Regis students will have the same opportunities."
For Gallahue, Regis is so much more than just her diploma—it means family and legacy. She is one of seven in her family who walked across the Regis Commencement stage. In addition to her mother, other Regis alumni in the family include her aunt Sister Louisella Walters '36, her daughter Ellen Gallahue Coven '96, her niece Anne Walters Stacy '93, her grandniece Erin Sheehan '22, and her brother Daniel Walters O.S.B. who received an honorary degree in 2008.
“As a kid, I visited the campus—exploring the classrooms and writing on blackboards,” Gallahue says. “Many of our family portraits for Christmas and Easter were taken at Regis.”
The Higgins Society is named in honor of former Regis President Thérèse Higgins, CSJ, '47. “Sister Thérèse was my sixth grade teacher and a dear friend; I am so proud to be a member of the Higgins Society and make a gift to Regis each year."