Jerry & Dorene Hammes

Bishop McNamara has seen the generosity of the Hammes family over the past sixty years. Dorene and Jerry continue to carry on the family’s long philanthropic history in Kankakee County which includes Kankakee Community College, Presence St. Mary’s Hospital, and Olivet Nazarene University. In 2008, Dorene and Jerry Hammes and Peoples Bank of Kankakee County established the Dorothy and Romy Hammes Hall of Honor where today, we continue to honor alumni, faculty, administrators, and friends whose lives and contributions represent the values upon which Bishop McNamara is based. In 2008, McNamara’s Hammes Bookstore was dedicated with one of the main purposes being that net proceeds from merchandise sales would be given as tuition assistance for students in need. Similar appellations of high school and college bookstores throughout the country bear the Hammes name recognizing the family’s close relationship including the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN; Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL; Marmion Military Academy, Aurora, IL; Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, IN; Bishop Gorman High School, Las Vegas, NV; Kankakee Community College, Kankakee, IL; the Stanley Clark School, South Bend, IN; and the Model T Museum, Detroit, MI. Students from Bishop McNamara and the surrounding area are given the opportunity to apply to the Hammes Family Scholar Program which has provided student scholarships to the University of Notre Dame, Kankakee Community College, and Olivet Nazarene University since 1995. In 2008, Dorene and Jerry were recognized as Honorary Chairmen at our Annual Dinner Auction. In addition, they sponsored trips to Hope College’s Summer Basketball Camp for the Bishop McNamara’s girls basketball team for many years.