Remembering Mary Louise Faber

Mary Louise Faber and her husband Eb have been instrumental to the success of CASA of Luzerne County — Eb as a founding board member and Mary Louise as one of CASA’s first volunteer advocates.

Sadly, Mary Louise passed away on Friday, October 11 at her home in Bear Creek. Her obituary can be found here.

In April 2018, we honored Eb and Mary Louise with our inaugural Service Achievement Award during our first NEPA Sings event.

In the program for that event, we featured a biography on Eb and Mary Louise which we’d like to share with you in her honor. The text is below.

CASA of Luzerne County will forever be grateful to both Eb and Mary Louise for their kindness, generosity, and dedication to the children of Luzerne County, even in the wake of Mary Louise’s passing.

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Since CASA’s inception in 2013, Eb and Mary Louise Faber have been an essential force in helping CASA of Luzerne County fulfill its mission to provide a voice for every Luzerne County child in foster care. Currently there are 424 such children.

Eb was a founding member of the CASA of Luzerne County Board of Directors. He has served with distinction for the past five years. Mary Louise responded to the CASA call by becoming one of our first volunteer advocates. She has been a tireless advocate for children. Both Eb and Mary Louise have generously supported CASA with their time, talent, and resources.

When recalling her time as an advocate, Eb called Mary Louise “the perfect volunteer.”

Though if you ask her, she would disagree.

“I just like fighting for the underdog,” she said.

Mary Louise was born in Baltimore attended both Vassar and Goucher College and graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law. Her career as a successful domestic affairs lawyer made her “perfectly fitted for CASA,” according to Eb.

“It was exhausting and wonderful,” Mary Louise said of her time as an advocate. “I wish I could do it again. I really do.”

Eb was born in Manhattan, attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and graduated from Princeton University where he served as Chairman of The Daily Princetonian. He was the first person in the University’s history to graduate both Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. He then became a Fulbright Scholar and teaching fellow at the University of Caen in France. He studied French literature and became the youngest Fulbright Professor ever, teaching English and American literature at the University of Cologne. Eb also served in the army before taking on the role of CEO at his family’s company, Eberhard Faber, Inc.

Eb served as Chairman of the Board at King’s College, Citizen’s Voice Newspaper, First Eastern Bank. He was a Director at W.P. Carey, Inc., the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and the Northeast Pennsylvania Advisory Board. He is an Emeritus Director of PNC Bank, N.A. Eb currently serves as a Director at King’s College and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital. He also served six terms on the Bear Creek Village Council. In addition to all of these accomplishments, Eb has served on CASA of Luzerne County’s Board of Directors since 2013.

Eb and Mary Louise have been married for 40 years and, between them, have six children, 10 grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

Eb is also an accomplished singer, having performed at more than 35 weddings.

We at CASA of Luzerne County are thankful for the hard work and dedication of Eberhard and Mary Louise Faber and are proud to honor them for their commitment to CASA and to the children of Luzerne County.

Summer synopsis

It’s hard to believe that summer is officially over.

These past few months have been ones for CASA’s record books, bringing so many wonderful things to our program and the children who benefit from it.

Here are some highlights of summer 2019 – one we’re going to build upon for summers to come.

An Evening in CASAblanca

On Thursday, September 19, our CASAblanca planning committee transformed a hangar at the Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort into Rick’s Café Américain a la the classic film Casablanca.

If you were one of the more than 400 people in attendance, you can attest to the breathtaking décor, delicious food, the fabulousness of the hand-rolled cigars, the fun of the gaming tables, and the camaraderie of those aligned for one central mission: the foster children of Luzerne County.

Our fourth annual event, the CASAblanca gala aims to raise money for CASA of Luzerne County and bring awareness to the need right here in our community. There are currently more than 500 children in foster care in Luzerne County, and only 64 of those children have access to a volunteer advocate.

The support of every sponsor, donor, advertiser, guest, and volunteer ensures that we can continue our mission to provide a volunteer advocate for each and every child who needs one.

We can’t thank you enough for your support of CASA of Luzerne County and An Evening in CASAblanca and hope to see you at Rick’s again next year.

Camp at Hillside Farms

For a week in August, 14 of our CASA kids attended camp at Hillside Farms which was such a joy for them and for us.

During their time at camp, our kids had the chance to hear a presentation from local author Cecelia Galante on how she was able to overcome her own trauma and find a place of peace and self-love.

They worked with Misericordia University and Dr. Jennifer Dessoye’s team of Occupational Therapy graduate students. Under Dr. Dessoye’s guidance, our kids learned coping strategies, and how to identify and process their feelings.

The Hillside staff, including our very own volunteer advocate Suzanne Kapral, worked to make sure that the children had every opportunity to let their imaginations run wild, to explore the farm and care for the animals. They got dirty, ate ice cream, and formed necessary bonds with each other.

Hillside also facilitated fresh produce donations, brand new school backpacks, and even new school shoes for all of our kids who attended.

Camp week was a game changer for 14 of our children – who ranged in age from five to 17 – and showed them that a different life is possible.

We are still filled with gratitude for each and every person who made that transformative week possible.

Program Growth

The summer of 2019 also saw some big steps forward for our program itself. We assigned cases to the advocates from our spring 2019 training class, providing a voice to 14 additional children who have been waiting for someone to speak up for them.

We attended the high school graduation of a child who had been in our program since 2016.

We recruited 20 people for our fall training class which begins Wednesday. That’s 20 new people who are willing to be the one consistent, caring adult presence in the life of a child who’s experienced life-changing trauma in the form of abuse or neglect.

 The staff at CASA of Luzerne County is so grateful to each and every person who makes this program possible. We cannot understate its need and cannot thank enough those who donate their time, talent, and funds to ensure it continues.

We can’t wait to share with you all the good that will come next!