Fund Spotlight
The Beverly S. and David F. Schalon Fund
Published December 17, 2025
Beverly and David met early on in their careers in area industry, he at Hercules and she at PPG. After dating for several years, they were happily married in 1970. David’s career took them to Belgium at one point, living there for three years, which sparked Beverly’s lifelong love of travel.
After losing David in a boating accident relatively early in their marriage, she returned to Lake Charles and embraced work, volunteering, hosting friends, and traveling.
She thrived working in the PPG laboratory as one of the few women, where she developed lifelong friendships and embraced every opportunity to travel.
Born in Starkville, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, however, Lake Charles and the PPG Lab were her home for 37 years.
She began her career as a lab technician, advanced to chemist, and later became a quality management professional—earning a second degree in chemistry from McNeese along the way.
“She was a trailblazer in the feminist movement at PPG.” ”
Following her retirement, Beverly continued sharing her expertise as a consultant for small companies for another 15 years and traveled to more than 80 countries.
Carolyn Sharp, Beverly Schalon, and others at PPG. Picture found by former coworker, Jim Rock, in PPG memory book.
Beverly chose to leave a legacy for her and her husband by creating an endowment fund to support what they valued, their education and the community that became their home, Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana. With the help of her former Chamber Quality Council member and friend, Sara Judson, and Financial Advisor, Reed Mendelson, she created the Beverly S. Schalon and David F. Schalon Fund that will support causes important to them, forever:
University of Michigan (College of Engineering), where her husband, David, completed his undergraduate studies
LSU Foundation (College of Sciences), where Beverly earned her degree in Zoology and was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha
The United Way of Southwest Louisiana, where she generously donated her time
The McNeese Foundation, where she attained her second college degree
Community Foundation Southwest Louisiana, to continue making a lasting positive impact in SWLA
Beverly in Alaska.
Travel buddies.
Beverly and a furry friend.
Beverly was deeply committed to sustainability and truly understood that for anything to endure long-term, it must be sustainable. A stickler by nature (made very clear by Quality Council friend Mark Hanudel), she held firm beliefs—sometimes shaped by differing political views—but always grounded them in practicality and long-range thinking, especially when it came to sustainability being attainable only if it could last.
She brought that same discipline into her personal life, staying active and working out until some of her last days, a testament to her belief in maintaining what you build. And whether advocating for sustainable choices or volunteering, she lived in a way that reflected consistency, responsibility, tenacity, and care.
It’s been one year since Beverly passed. Friends of Beverly and David, including Beverly’s former colleagues from the lab at PPG and the Chamber Quality Council, gathered to share stories and toast to the Schalon legacy.
