The Merrill B. Frick Family Library Endowment for Early Christian Studies was established in 2004, by Merrill and Louise Frick of Wawaka, Indiana. Merrill serves as president of Frick Services, Inc., a provider of wholesale and retail farm supplies and grain storage. The Fricks, longtime members of the Rockne Heritage Fund Director’s Circle, have three children: Gretchen, Janell, and Dan. Four of their grandchildren have graduated from the University: Adam (’01), Emily (’04), Amanda (’08), and Daniel (’10).

This endowment provides funding for the enhancement of library collections on various aspects of the early church. It recently supported the purchase of titles addressing broad institutional changes, such as Episcopal Elections in Late Antiquity, and Pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire: The Breaking of a Dialogue. Titles about specific individuals were also purchased. These included volumes on an important third-century bishop (Cyprian of Carthage: Studies in His Life, Language, and Thought) and the great St. Athanasius (Athanasius Handbuch). The latter work is a helpful addition to the new Theology Reference Collection in the Hesburgh Libraries.

Early Christian studies are critical for the religion component of the study of humanities. As such, the Merrill B. Frick Family Library Endowment for Early Christian Studies supports the deep and focused issues as well as broader topics. The Frick family has two other endowments focusing on German and Protestant studies.