Boyles share special Saint Mary’s experiences

Neil ’91 and Jennifer (Smith) ’91 Boyle share similar stories from their college glory days at Saint Mary’s, including a few that they joke probably shouldn’t be shared publicly — particularly as their son Liam is now a sophomore in Winona.

The couple met at Saint Mary’s through mutual friends, though they didn’t begin dating until they were reintroduced again after college. They followed different academic paths with Neil Boyle studying accounting and Jennifer Boyle pursuing a history degree.

But their similar Saint Mary’s experiences began the first time either of them visited campus.

“My father had a friend who went to Saint Mary’s, and he just said you should have her look at it,” Jennifer Boyle recalled. “Both my father and I looked at it and loved it right away,” she said. Neil Boyle also experienced love at first sight. “When I was a senior, I had two cousins who were at Saint Mary’s, so I went up for a visit, not expecting at all to go there,” he remembers. “I thought I would stay closer to home, maybe go to a bigger school but when I went up for

Neil ’91 and Jennifer (Smith) ’91 Boyle, along with their daughter Bridget, congratulated son Liam as he announced he would play soccer at Saint Mary’s.

The Boyles are discovering the special Saint Mary’s experience has stayed the same throughout the decades.

a weekend, I fell in love with it. It was on an admission trip, and by the time we got to the Wisconsin Dells, I had already told the admission counselor I was going to Saint Mary’s.”

When they think of their alma mater, the same words come to mind: the people.

Jennifer Boyle said the friendships she made in college have lasted a lifetime. As her younger sister also attended Saint Mary’s, her Saint Mary’s community extended to her sister’s friends. “For such a small school, it has a big impact,” she said.

Neil recalls both friends and professors first, but also all the activities he was involved with, including student government. “I tell people, if you go to Saint Mary’s and there isn’t something for you to do, you’re either not trying hard enough or it just hasn’t been started yet. If you’re interested in starting a club, you can find others with that same interest and start a club.”

It isn’t difficult for them to recall influential professors. For Jennifer Boyle, a high school English teacher, it was Dr. Bill Crozier, because she loved his teaching style. For Neil Boyle, Mike J.D. and Pat Sommerville, Ph.D.; Teresa Speck; Father Andrew Fabian OP, AFSC; and Mary Fox ’75, AFSC, Ph.D., are at the top of his list. “They cared for their students,” he said. “It was apparent. I used to tell the story that good or bad, Saint Mary’s faculty knew if you were in class or not.”

He particularly thanks Dr. Fox for playing an instrumental role in his career. Not only did she recommend a valuable internship to him, she also encouraged him to get into the new and fastgrowing telecommunications business, which was before anyone even had email or cell phones. He’s now a project executive for an electrical contracting company and is involved with data and fiber optics cabling, as his business is building data centers around the Chicago area to handle growing internet needs.

When it came time for their son Liam to look at schools, they can admit to a small amount of nudging. And when he chose to follow in their footsteps, he told them, “You have three kids; ONE of us has to go there.”

Neil Boyle said Saint Mary’s was a great fit for his son who was looking at smaller liberal arts schools, particularly ones where he could play soccer. The facilities, the community feel, and the soccer camaraderie drew him in. As an accounting and sport management major, he has dreams of one day becoming an athletic director.

Already, the father and son can compare stories of having Jeff Hefel for business classes, and the family was excited to see that an action shot of Liam playing soccer made it on the new 90-foot mural in Gostomski fieldhouse.

The Boyles support Saint Mary’s largely because of all of these heartfelt shared experiences.

“I know the experience I received, what Neil received, what my sister received, and now what Liam is getting,” Jennifer Boyle said. “We want to see smaller schools like Saint Mary’s thrive.”

Neil Boyle adds, “Jen and I, combined, have had 32 years of Catholic education, from grade school through college. Jen’s been teaching in a Catholic school since 1995. Our faith is pretty important to us. I attribute my being who I am in no small part to going to Saint Mary’s and everything Saint Mary’s did for me. Saint Mary’s let me become the person I was supposed to become. I also know the leadership at Saint Mary’s is doing right by our money. They are doing the best for their students, so my thought is if we can help in any way possible, that’s important to us.”≠