Forever Home: Tom and Gayle Carper

University News

Forever Home: Tom and Gayle Carper

January 14, 2019

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Video by Phil Weiss, University Television

NOTE: This is the third installment in a series, "Forever Home," which features video interviews with WIU alumni who have chosen to make Macomb (and/or WIU) their home after graduation.

Forever Home: Tom and Gayle Carper

MACOMB, IL – Before Tom and Gayle Carper were leaders in the Macomb community, the two first met when their academic and career paths converged at Western Illinois University in the 1970s.

Tom, who received his Board of Governors degree (general studies) in 1982, is the former mayor of Macomb and now serves on the national Amtrak board of directors. Gayle, who received her bachelor's degree in English in 1973 and her master's degree in education and interdisciplinary studies in 1980, retired in 2012 after 27 years as a law enforcement and justice administration (LEJA) professor and a local attorney. She now serves on the Macomb City Council and is a jewelry designer.

It was being a part of the Leatherneck football team that initially brought Tom to WIU in 1964. In addition to being a student, he worked at Modern Home and the University Union. By his junior year, he realized he couldn't find his "niche" and he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving his country three years, including a tour in Vietnam. In 1970, he decided to come back to WIU with the help of the G.I. Bill and Illinois' scholarship for veterans.

"It was the community of Macomb, as much as it was the University that brought me back in 1972 to kind of get situated," said Tom. "This was a good place to be if you were a veteran in Illinois and at Western; it was a welcoming community…there were jobs you could get in town. It was a good decision to come back."

Once back in Macomb, Tom established and owned numerous taverns in Macomb, including the first, Tom and Ski's Grin and Beer It, which had a large customer base of student veterans.

"There were 500-600 members of Vet's Club and (our tavern) was a great meeting place for them," said Tom. " That's where a vast majority of the veterans on campus started hanging out. I kind of viewed it as the right place at the right time. There was a place that they could go and they were hanging out with people who understood - if they were having a bad day there were other people in there who could understand that."

Gayle came to WIU because of a teacher education scholarship which required her to attend a state school. She chose Macomb because she could take the train back and forth to her hometown of Wheaton, IL, for holidays and University breaks.

The couple began dating in 1973, after Gayle and a friend came into Tom's tavern and sat at the bar.

"When you own a bar, that's probably not a big surprise," Tom said of the way the two were introduced.

After graduation, Gayle taught junior high school in Carthage (IL) and later worked for the Illinois Office of Education. The couple married in 1977, and Gayle began commuting to Chicago as a law student at DePaul in 1980, graduating in 1983.

"I would never have been able to go to law school without Tom because he supported me throughout that, not just financially but emotionally," said Gayle. "When I look back, it doesn't seem possible that we've been together that long, but we have, and we've stayed here in Macomb that whole time as our home base."

The last tavern Tom owned was Tom's Café on the west side of the Macomb square. He was elected Macomb's mayor in 1991, serving for 12 years. He later worked in economic development for the state of Illinois. Gayle began teaching part time at WIU, eventually becoming a full-time LEJA professor. She also worked as a public defender in McDonough County during part of that time.

Tom completed his degree in 1982 after retired WIU Foundation Communications Director Julie Murphy and former WIU advisor Mary Wahlbeck convinced him that with his completed classes and credit for military courses, he was just a few credits short of a degree.

"We were actually in school at the same time," said Gayle. "I was in law school and Tom was taking classes here."

At WIU, Gayle was a member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and the University Union Board. Tom was a member of the Vet's Club and later began working as a track official at University meets, a volunteer effort he continues with. He was later inducted into the WIU Athletics Hall of Fame as a contributor and has been awarded the University's Alumni Achievement Award and the Town and Gown Service Award.

Gayle credits attending WIU in 1970, during the Kent State shootings, for sparking her to become more politically aware.

"That's what got me more involved in paying attention to what went on in governments, what went on in the world," she said. "I'm not sure when I would have gotten politically active if it hadn't been for that, and I've been politically active ever since then."

Tom credits WIU and the people of Macomb he met, during his time as a student and afterward, for helping him grow into an adult.

"Working at the University Union with some great local people…was really a great experience," he said. "It was getting to know the local folks. Those are experiences that really helped shape me – that's what brought me back. I knew those people were there."

It was Tom's time as mayor that helped draw him to national service on the Amtrak Board, serving as its chair for several years. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin called Carper and asked him to serve.

"It wasn't in my plan to do that," he said. "But I wouldn't do it if it wasn't important. I do appreciate the importance of transportation and issues that involve rural communities. It's just another opportunity to give back."

Gayle said it's interesting to travel to Washington, DC and see the connections Tom has made over the years.

"Half of the people that greet Tom are people he met from his involvement with Amtrak, but the other half are people he knew from Western, who were students here. That happens anywhere we go. The connections across the years – a lot of those people went to school here at Western and are now all over the country and all over the world."

Living in a University town is something the couple said has made Macomb an attractive place to live and to now retire.

"We live in a great space where we've been for 42 years," said Tom. "There's nothing like living in a University town. You get the best of both worlds out here. You get small town living and the conveniences and all that…then you also get the University, the diversity and the culture, it's really nice."

He added that he's tried to figure out which side of a community/university partnership is most important.

"I can't separate them," Tom said. "I think it's equal. Macomb without the University, or the University without Macomb, I don't think I would be around here; I don't think I would have stayed and I don't think I would have come back."

Gayle said the pair has benefitted from staying in Macomb, and eventually she moved her parents to town, including her father, Irv Tronvig, who just turned 101, and her sister, Jan.

"(My dad) loves this town because everywhere he goes people say 'hello' to him and are just kinder than you could imagine anyone could be," she said. "That's what I really love about Macomb…it's the people. The people are kind and caring."

The pair agrees that it is the people in Macomb that make Macomb such a welcoming home.

"You take those people and put it with an institution of this size, that's accessible; it's not so large that it swallows everything up…you get an interchangeable relationship," said Tom. "This is absolutely the best of both worlds on both sides of the equation. We're fortunate here – this is a little oasis."

As the couple moves toward retirement, they respect the opportunities available in Macomb to reinvent themselves. After retirement from teaching, Gayle began taking metals classes in the WIU Department of Art. After creating more than she could wear herself, she began selling pieces at local fairs.

The couple is also extensively involved in volunteer opportunities across the region.

"It's so important to give back, whether you're in the University community or in the community you live it, it's important to do what you can," said Gayle. "It's kind of fun to reinvent yourself."

Tom said he has been impressed with the variety of volunteer opportunities open to local residents.

"It all adds to building a nice, livable community," he said. "If you're here and engaged, you're going to be a part of that. And if you're in a larger place, it's harder to do that and make a difference."

For more information about WIU, visit wiu.edu.