Robert J. Kresse ’50, HON ’00
Counsel | Hiscock & Barclay LLP
Throughout Robert J. Kresse’s long career as an attorney of counsel with Hiscock & Barclay, he won praise from clients and colleagues as a counselor, confidant, friend and trusted advisor. But Kresse’s efforts to preserve and promote virtually everything that enriches the community are among his most stellar accomplishments. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin L. Martin House might be in ruins were it not for Kresse’s leadership with the Martin House Restoration Corporation. The city’s parks system not only survives but thrives because of Kresse’s involvement with Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks Conservancy. St. Mary of Sorrows Church received a new lease on life when Kresse rescued the treasured landmark from demolition and restored it as the King Urban Life Center and Charter School. Canisius’ own library would be inadequate to the demands of contemporary higher education if not for Kresse’s tireless push to expand and refurbish the Bouwhuis Library. First job: Newsboy for The Buffalo Times, The Courier Express and The Buffalo News. Best career advice: “The best advice was from my father. He said, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and love your brother as yourself.’” Most Rev. Dominic Dinh Mai Luong MSEd ’67 Auxiliary Bishop | Diocese of Orange, California In 2003, the Most Rev. Dominic Dinh Mai Luong became only the second bishop of Asian origin in the United States, and the very first from Vietnam. He began his career with the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo as a teacher at the Diocesan Preparatory Seminary, an associate pastor of St. Louis Church, and a chaplain for Vietnamese students in Buffalo. When many Vietnamese immigrated to New Orleans after the fall of Saigon, Bishop Luong was sent to be director of the Vietnamese Apostolate. He became a cultural guide, a spiritual patriarch, and an interpreter to fellow immigrants. He celebrated Mass for them on weekends and devoted weekdays to helping them find housing, jobs and transportation. Bishop Luong was appointed founding pastor of Mary, Queen of Vietnam Church in New Orleans in 1983. He became a monsignor in 1986, and director of the National Center for the Vietnamese Apostolate in 1989.
Buffalo Niagara Alumni Chapter Members of the Buffalo Niagara Alumni Chapter celebrated the season of giving with donations of non-perishable food items for St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy in Buffalo. Canisius alumni brought their donations to the chapter’s annual Christmas party at Sonoma Grille. Pictured (above) l-r: Norman Paolini Jr. ’69, HON ’09 and Amy Betros HON ’09, co-founders and co-directors of St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy, with Canisius College President John J. Hurley. Pictured (below) l-r: Scott Marchant, Tracey Marchant ’97, Jennifer Crawford ’99, Maria-Rose Frisina ’93
Interesting Fact: Bishop Luong worked in the college’s seismograph station as a student because of his fascination with earthquakes. First job: Professor of biology at the Diocesan Seminary in Buffalo. Lawrence J. Vilardo ’77
Partner | Connors & Vilardo LLP
Lawrence J. Vilardo is renowned for his legal expertise. The Harvard Law School graduate served as confidential law clerk to the Hon. Irving L. Goldberg in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Dallas, TX. Vilardo returned to Buffalo in 1981 as an associate at Damon and Morey, where he met Terrence M. Connors ’68. Five years later, they established Connors and Vilardo, a litigation firm that represents a diverse client base. Now, in addition to the New York State Bar, Vilardo is admitted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. He is among only 500 attorneys to be elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Interesting fact: Vilardo served as the editor-in-chief of The Griffin and editor of the Harvard Law Review. Best career advice: “Do what you love doing.” C ANI SIUS COLLEGE M AGA ZINE • WINTER 2011
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