ATLANTA-The Marist School awarded its first St. Peter Chanel, SM, Service Award to Bill and Barbara Schwendler who have served Marist School in various capacities since 1985.

The award was established to recognize an individual or individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication for the institutional advancement of Marist School. The award was named after St. Peter Chanel, a Marist priest who lost his life preaching the gospel on the island of Futuna. Prior to his missionary efforts, St. Peter Chanel had been an educator and a parish priest in his native France. He was canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII and is especially honored in the South Pacific because he was the first martyr of that region.

J. Robert Fitzgerald, chairman of the board of trustees at Marist, presented the award to the Schwendlers during the school's annual major donor appreciation dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Buckhead Sept. 22.

Sally Dunn, former development director at Marist, nominated the Schwendlers for the award because of their commitment to the school.

"Bill and Barbara have been outstanding, stalwart volunteers for Marist for 14 years and have put in countless hours of service," she said. "In all my work with volunteers, I can name no others who are so willing to commit great chunks of time to Marist. They are always there when Marist needs them...Any job they undertake (has) their full attention and (is) done to the best of their ability."

Though they have been strong supporters of Marist since 1983, the Schwendlers’ service to Marist began in 1985 when Barbara joined the Music Association. Since then, the couple have volunteered to be phone-a-thon callers, vice-chairs and chairs of the Parents' Annual Fund, as well as chairs of the Past Parents' Annual Fund. The Schwendlers have two children who attended Marist, Rebecca, who graduated in 1989 and Tad, a 1992 graduate of the school.