Mary Tabb – … a person of character
CONSIDERING, she is a mentor for younger women, she is an advocate for the needy, and she is a motivator for the weary. She’s quick with a word of encouragement, and she’s steadies others with a voice of reason and faith.
CONSIDERING, she is a natural-born teacher. After receiving a master’s degree in English literature from San Diego State, she taught at Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, Kansas, Nyack College in New York State and United States International University in San Diego before moving to Baton Rouge. She taught at LSU for 27 years, first in the English department, then later in ELOP teaching English as a second language.
CONSIDERING, she has a special heart for international students. In addition to teaching classes at LSU, she developed conversational classes for them at her church and invited them into her home. “Honestly, my time teaching in ELOP was supposed to be temporary. But I fell in love with the international students who wanted so desperately to learn.”
CONSIDERING, she is well versed in works by both Jane Austen and C.S. Lewis. She studied Austen at King’s College, Cambridge, while living abroad for a year, and she’s a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. She participated in the Scholars-in-Residence program at The Kilns, also known as the C.S. Lewis house. She plans on starting a C.S. Lewis book club in the coming months.
CONSIDERING, she has been married to Donald Tabb for 55 years and has five children and seven grandchildren. She traveled around the country with Donald, who served on the Billy Graham Crusade team, in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, Donald helped found The Chapel on the Campus and led it as pastor until his transition to Pastor Emeritus in 2002. She retired at the same time so the two could go on speaking engagements together. “I wasn’t going to let him travel and leave me behind!”
CONSIDERING, she is always on the move. She went on 12 different trips last year: sometimes visiting family in Toronto, Canada, Washington, D.C., and Orlando; and sometimes simply traveling or speaking at conferences in Brazil, Spain, France, Italy and elsewhere. She heads to China and the Philippines for a month this year.
CONSIDERING, she has a bucket list that includes taking each of her four daughters on a cruise. “I felt like it was a good goal to have. It’s a special time to spend with my girls, individually.”
CONSIDERING, she founded the Silver Stars, an online fellowship and ministry for women ages 50 and over a few years ago. She sends words of encouragement and inspiration to almost 300 women each month. Now, she is establishing a website for the group. “It started as an attempt to connect with women I had taught in Bible study or other groups, but it has grown. I want to inspire women not to be ho-hum about their Christian faith.”
CONSIDERING, she is not ho-hum about anything, and she has no intention of slowing down or keeping silent. She cherishes her children and grandchildren dearly, her husband loyally and the people she knows and meets truly. “I want to encourage others to think spiritually and think eternally. For me, I want what God wants for the remainder of my earthly journey.”
