Maj. Gen. and Mrs. Timothy A. Peppe, USAF (Ret.)

To honor and remember his parents, the late Isadore and Cynthia Peppe, Major General Timothy A. Peppe (RET, USAF), established this endowment. Maj. Gen. Peppe earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science in 1970. He is a 2003 reci pient of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Outstanding Alumnus Award , as well as, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences. This endowment provides scholarship awards to students majoring in any area in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences.

His father, Isadore Otto Peppe, was born on March 15, 1925 in North Plainfield, New Jersey to Joseph and Maria Peppe. Joseph and Maria were Italian immigrants from South Central Italy who arrived in the United States in 1914 and 1913 respectively. Isadore was the youngest of four siblings and the only son. Unfortunately, Maria passed away shortly after Isadore’s birth, and all four children were placed in the Christian orphanage of North Plainfield while their father worked in a steel mill in northern New Jersey. Isadore had a difficult and interesting childhood in this environment and generally had contact with his father most weekends. He was not a very good student and could get into trouble at the drop of a hat. He graduated from North Plainfield High School in June 1943 at a time when every able male in the class literally walked to the Armed Forces Induction Center to enter military service. Isadore joined the Army and quickly found himself going through basic training. Upon completion, he attended the Army’s parachute training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After successfully completing the task of parachuting out of airplanes, he moved to Camp McKall, North Carolina before heading to the European theater.

After spending approximately one year in Europe, with limited combat time, he returned to the United States, and like many others in his peer group, was separated from the Army. During his short stint in the Army, Isadore quickly saw the value of education and its necessity for succeeding in life. Over the next couple of years, he attended Rutgers University, Tusculum College and Tennessee Technological Institute. It was at Tusculum College that he met Cynthia Grobert, and they married shortly thereafter. His son, Timothy Alan, was born in December 1947. Faced with being a bread-winner, Isadore rejoined the Army in January 1949, this time as an officer since he had completed two years of college.

He was stationed in Japan and in late June 1950, he was a part of Task Force Smith, the first group of US troops sent to stop the North Korean invasion of South Korea. He was captured and spent 37 months as a Prisoner of War. After returning from Korea, he obtained his Bachelor of Science from Tennessee Tech and applied and was accepted to Georgetown Dental School, entering in August 1955 after separating from the Army a second time. His first daughter, Cynthia, was born in August 1954, and his second daughter, Susan, was born in November 1956. Going to dental school was a full time job in itself however, his family responsibilities required him to work numerous part-time jobs so there woul d be food on the table. Since Isadore was comfortable with Army life, he supplemented his income by joining the Washington D.C. Army Guard during the first two years of dental school. He then signed a contract with the Army which allowed him to be paid as a Second Lieutenant during his junior /senior years provided he return to active duty upon school completion. Shortly after graduation, Dr. (First Lieutenant) Peppe reported to Fort Campbell for the second time and over the next 21 years had assignments in the United States, Europe and South Korea. Along the way, he completed his Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in 1972. Education was the linchpin which allowed Isadore to climb the ladder of success as he retired as a Colonel from the Army. Always a stickler for education and good grades, he could attest that education was extremely important. He took keen interest not only in his children’s education, but in every overseas tour, he taught classes in his off-duty time. In the case of one South Korean that he met while in the POW camp, Dr. Peppe arranged for that individual to travel to the United States to attend college. All three of his children graduated from college, both daughters from the University of Tennessee and his son from North Carolina State University.

Cynthia Vanderveer Grobert was born on May 18, 1928 in East Orange, New Jersey to Horace and Helen Grobert. Cynthia and her brother, Horace Alan, spent their entire youth in New Jersey where Cynthia graduated from high school in 1946. Since her father was in the construction business, the Grobert family quickly found themselves in Cookeville, Tennessee where Horace was a plant supervisor in a factory which built pre-fab houses that were shipped via rail to Ohio and Pennsylvania. Shortly after arrival in Tennessee, Cynthia entered Tusculum College in east Tennessee. It was here that she met and married Isadore Otto Peppe. Her son, Timothy, was born in December 1947, and the financial strains of raising a family forced Isadore and Cynthia to move in with her parents in Cookeville. Shortly after Timothy’s birth, Isadore rejoined the Army, and Cynthia quickly learned what single parenting was all about. Until late 1953, Cynthia and Timothy lived in Cookeville with the Groberts or in an apartment. It was in September 1953 that Isadore returned from his 37 months in captivity, and after a few short months, the family reunited near Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Over the next nine years, Cynthia would give birth to two daughters, Cynthia and Susan, and due to Isadore’s commitments, was the strength that held the family together, including pushing their three children to excel in education. Shortly after Susan entered first grade in 1963, Cynthia decided to return to college, attending the newly opened Methodist College in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She completed almost two full years of college before the family returned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky in 1965. The Fall of 1965 found Cynthia and Timothy attending Austin Peay State College at the same time. Cynthia was majoring in education and wanted to be a teacher. Early in her quest for an education degree, she was asked to perform substitute teacher duties at numerous junior and senior high schools, and as her son can attest, she had quite the disciplinarian reputation at Fayetteville High School. Unfortunately, during her last semester before graduation she found out she had cancer, which prevented her from graduating prior to her death in 1969.