Class NOTES
1944 Dr. Thomas Draper celebrated July 4 in Mamaroneck with Dave Mendez ’01. 1945 William Boyan lives in Naples, Florida with his wife, Tia. He recently reflected on his path to Xavier: “In 1941, I had to choose between the first competitive scholarship to Xavier and the same at Regis. It seemed as if World War II would be going on for some time, costing millions of lives to invade Western Europe and to defeat Japan. The more military training I could get, the more likely my survival seemed. Another strong motivation for choosing 16th Street was that my father, whom I loved very much, graduated from Xavier in 1905 or 1906. (We had the same names.) Dad then lived on the Upper West Side. His last summer (1987) I asked whether he commuted on the Broadway subway. His reply: ‘Take the Broadway subway? I watched them build the Broadway subway.’ He took the Ninth Avenue elevated to 59th Street, then transferred to a Sixth Avenue el train to 14th Street. I lived across the George Washington Bridge in my Xavier years, so I commuted on the A and D trains via a subway built in my lifetime, for a nickel in each direction, the same price as a Pepsi. I can still sing its jingle, Pepsi’s; the subway had no theme song, just a duet when a rider felt his space invaded: ‘I paid my nickel!’ ‘Why don’t you hire a private car?’” 1949 Over the Christmas holiday, Dr. Tom O’Brien and his wife, Nancy, spent nine days at Marsh Harbour, Abaco in the Bahama Out Islands. “It was a return to the place where we wintered regularly for about 14 years after retirement,” he writes. “Annually, we cruised by boat down the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida, across the Gulf Stream on to the Little Bahama Bank to our Abaco destination. A departure from North Carolina by mid-October assured an arrival for Thanksgiving with our winter cruising friends.
This year we traveled by air...shortening the travel time from six weeks to six hours!” 1950 Allan Ahearne, D.V.M. shared the following reflection about his years at Xavier: “The Xavier years set me on the right path. It seems that the nuns during my eight years of grammar school at St. Al’s in Jersey City just had not developed a sense of humor, plus they insisted on always being right—such that they decided that it was right not to let me go to their high school. See if I care! Xavier is for me and if there was a place in the Hall of Fame for the guy with the most ‘unlimited JUG’ hours I’d be there. It did take a while for me to adjust and reluctantly see that they were always right, too. Graduation kind of depended on it. The big turn in life came when I spent a summer working on a farm at age 14 and witnessed the local veterinarian cure one of the work horses of some ailment, and my goal in life jumped out. St. Peter’s, then Cornell, and then off to a career of large animal work in Cumberland, Maryland, and later my own hospital for companion animals on Long Island. Forty years and five children later, I retired in 1997 and with my wife of 53 years moved to Cooperstown, New York—Paradise North, I call it. I am forever grateful for my years and education at Xavier. It made me who I am and put me where I am. Thank you, St. Francis Xavier.” Joe Brostek is the historian for his parish, Flushing’s St. Andrew Avellino Roman Catholic Church. In November, due to his efforts, the Broadway-Flushing Community Library unveiled a plaque honoring Rev. Edward F. McGoldrick, St. Andrew Avellino’s founding pastor, who was also instrumental in the founding of the library. 1952 Dr. Chester Schmidt continues to work full-time at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He enjoys his four great-grandchildren and reading about Xavier.
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1954 Tom Donohue has retired from the FBI. He writes that he was in the hospital recently and would be grateful for the prayers of the alumni community. George Gibson has written a story about the life journey of mathematics teacher Michael J. O’Donnell†, starting with his college education in Ireland and his travels through St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, before arriving at Xavier in 1916. Gibson highlights the profound influence O’Donnell had on him as a student, starting with his foray into algebra (not doing well initially). Through O’Donnell’s patience and teaching, Gibson emerged very successfully, enabling a lifetime of mathematics and engineering. Interested classmates can contact George at gwg@gwgibson.net to get a copy of the story.
David Mendez ’01 and Dr. Tom Draper
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1955 Members of the Class of 1955 remember Brendan B. Carney†, their classmate who passed away 14 years ago this May 30. Brendan was the son of Joseph James Carney ’24† and grew up in Hauppauge, Long Island. He moved to Kew Gardens, Queens his sophomore year. After Xavier, Brendan attended Mount St. Mary’s College in Maryland and was in the United States Armed Forces for a brief time. He followed his father to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and spent his entire career there. He and his wife, Kathleen, had four children. Brendan was a kind and generous man who was adored by members of the Class of 1955. 1956 Kevin Donohue writes that he is still working in his home care business in Fairfield, Connecticut. He recently met up for dinner with Dr. Jerry Foye, Dr. John McGrade ’57, and their wives. Dr. Frank Heelan writes, “The 1956 Grain House Gang celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of Ann and Frank Heelan at the Vine in Basking Ridge, New Jersey on September 20, 2017. Wives and ’56
William Boyan
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St. Andrew Avellino pastor Rev. Joseph T. Holcomb, Queens Library President and CEO Dennis Walcott, and Joseph Brostek
Look for a corresponding photo with alumni note
XAVIER MAGAZINE 35