Saint Bernard’s receives $330,000, largest gift in school history

Uncasville – Saint Bernard School has received a $330,000 gift, the largest single gift ever made to the school’s endowment, the school announced today.

The gift comes from the Philip and Hazel Bushnell Deschenes Trust.

According to the school, Philip and Hazel left school before receiving a high school diploma because they had to work to support their widowed mothers. Philip Deschenes, who died in 2002 at the age of 82, eventually became a self-made businessman who gave money to students who had the drive to further their education but did not have the necessary financial resources.

A nephew of the couple and trustee of the trust had previously set up scholarships at Saint Bernard’s.

“To help ensure Saint Bernard’s future and in the spirit for the love of education that Philip and Hazel Deschenes had, the trust was turned over to Saint Bernard School,” Betty Baillargeon, the school’s advancement director, said in a press release.

The gift brings Saint Barnard’s total endowment over the one million dollar mark, Baillargeon said.

Saint Bernard’s is a private, Catholic college preparatory school sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers.