Tom Dermody, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Post.

Tom Dermody, editor of The Catholic Post, will be the keynote speaker at the 36th annual Respect Life Dinner on Sunday, Oct. 1, at Barrack’s Cater Inn in Peoria.

The dinner, which begins at 6 p.m. and features updates on area pro-life activities, raises funds to purchase materials for the Family Resources Center in Peoria.

Dermody, who joined the diocesan newspaper staff in 1979 and has been editor since 1990, will reflect on nearly four decades of covering respect life stories in central Illinois.

The Respect Life Dinner is planned by an 19-member committee. Charles Owens of Henry, who has emceed the annual dinner’s program for decades, is committee chairman.

Tickets are $30 each if ordered prior to Sept. 26, or $32 after that date. They may be reserved by sending a check made out to “Respect Life Dinner Committee” to PO Box 368, Morton, IL 61550. More information, including on being a dinner sponsor, is available by calling (309) 266-9391.