TO GIVE AND NOT TO COUNT THE COST
What’s In a Name? BY TOM LYONS ’60
St. Joseph’s Prep depends on the generosity of their alumni to sustain its quality education. Tuition, alone, doesn’t pay all the bills. To recognize generous supporters, the Prep has named spaces in their honor.
(first floor, Jesuit Hall)
Sean Rooney ’80, along with his father, spearheaded the project to name the space after his brother James. “We did this because the Prep gave me so much, I felt the least I could do was to give something back,” says Rooney, who asked the school to name the room after his younger brother who spent two years at the Prep. Although 22 out of 24 of his grade school classmates went to LaSalle, Sean, revealing his individualist nature, chose the Prep. And he never looked back. In his own words, “other than my parents, the Prep is the best thing that ever happened to me. The Jesuits taught me to be a man and how to function on my own.” Travelling into the Prep each day from the suburbs, Sean loved the experience of taking SEPTA to the Prep; the R5 train, the Broad St. subway and the Route 15 trolley were a whole new experience to him. “This was part of the education,” he says. He also loved the demographic and socio-economic mix that he met when he arrived at the 17th and
Girard (denizens from the Northeast, Jersey, 2-Streeters from South Philly, etc.) that combined to give him a unique life perspective. “You learn how to get along and achieve goals with heterogeneous groups of people,” Rooney says. The foundation that Sean got in high school has provided him with the tools to live a full and productive life. He was captain of the football team, a member of Student Council, and involved in many school activities. Both he and his father have served on the Prep’s Board of Trustees and were central figures in a capital campaign that changed the landscape at 17th & Girard. His 20 years of experience at Aramark, where he moved up through multiple positions to become President of Stadiums and Arenas, gave him the knowledge and fundamentals to start his own consulting business and Sean is currently President/CEO of Trinity Consultants specializing in the Sports and Entertainment industries. He also worked for the Pittsburgh Steelers, which were founded by his grandfather in 1933 and remains in the family. Besides sitting on several boards, Sean is involved with multiple charitable endeavors. Closest to his heart is the Kelly Rooney Foundation, a non-profit for breast cancer research that he and his late wife founded as she fought the disease. Sean and his five children reside in Wayne.
NEW SCHOLARSHIPS Growing the endowment through named scholarships is a main focus of the fundraising efforts moving forward. Thank you to the following who have recently established scholarships to help a current Prep student in need of financial assistance:
THE O’BRIEN FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP: funded by Patrick O’Brien ’89 and his wife Jennifer
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THE JAMES J. AND RHETA K. MCLAUGHLIN SCHOLARSHIP:
THE THOMAS A. THE MCKEON NOONE, M.D. ’42 FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP: SCHOLARSHIP:
funded by the family, funded by the estate friends, and classof James McLaughlin mates of Thomas Noone ’42 ’47 and his wife Rheta
THE PREP NEWS SPRING 2013
THE KEELEY FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP:
THE JOHN CARDINAL J. FOLEY SCHOLARSHIP:
funded by brothers funded by brothers Edwin McKeon ’47 Frank Keeley ’45 and funded by the estate and Thomas McKeon George Keeley ’47 of Cardinal John ’50 Foley ’53, his family, and classmates