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In a 2009 interview, Rev. and Mrs. Thomas Conboy told us they felt a responsibility "to steward God's blessings."

Lois (Dormire) Conboy was born in Dayton, PA, and grew up in Apollo, PA., the fourth of five children. "My mother and father were very frugal, " she recalled. In fourth grade, she began taking piano lessons for 75¢ per lesson, a significant expense for her family at that time—it proved to be her introduction to a lifelong love of music.

Following high school, she enrolled at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, planning to major in music and pursue a ministry of music career. But her education was put on hold after her sophomore year when she married Thomas Conboy, then a student at Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh.

Born in Pittsburgh, Rev. Conboy attended the University of Pittsburgh, and then seminary, working at a drugstore, for Gulf Oil Company, and in construction "including work on Pittsburgh's Three River Park" to help pay for his education.

Rev. Conboy was ordained into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1956, two years following the couple's marriage. They initially served a small, rural church in western Pennsylvania and, through the years, served several other churches in Pennsylvania.

In 1972, a friend encouraged them to pursue the pastorship of two recently merged Presbyterian congregations in Central Falls and Cumberland. “I've always felt that the Lord led me to where he wanted me to serve," Rev. Conboy said of what became a 25-year tenure at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Cumberland.

As her husband continued his career in the church, Mrs. Conboy continued hers in public schools—teaching music in Cumberland for 25 years. "Everything I've done has been a joy," she said contentedly.

Rev. Conboy was a long-time member of the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Cumberland-Lincoln, and a trustee at the Cumberland Public Library for more than 30 years.

Mrs. Conboy was active with the Providence Preservation Society; both Conboys ushered at the Providence Performing Arts Center, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Trinity Repertory Theatre, and Rhode Island College; and were active in the governance of the Presbyterian Church on the national, regional, and local levels. They were also active supporters of church missions, participating in trips to China, Alaska, and the Middle East. Their personal travel included at least two trips each year to Minnesota where son Tom works in sales and marketing. He and his wife Karen, a graduate of Providence College, have two sons, Thomas, IV, and Kevin.

Rev. Conboy explained the couple's feelings about their estate planning through both the Presbyterian Foundation and The Rhode Island Foundation: "We felt that it was an opportunity to witness to people about the possibilities of remembering the Boys & Girls Club and the Cumberland Public Library in their estates."