34 AQUINAS LANDMARK | SUMMER 2026 focus on faith by Bob Gibbons ‘65 The First Basilians at Aquinas Aquinas didn’t become a Basilian-managed school until 1937, but this coming year—2027—is actually the 100th anniversary of the Basilians coming to teach at Aquinas. Here is how that happened. In the 1920s, Aquinas students were being taught by a mix of lay teachers, Sisters of St. Joseph, Sisters of Mercy, and diocesan priests. But, by middecade, vocations were down, the attrition rate at the two Rochester seminaries was high, and Bishop Hickey of Rochester was forced to borrow priests from neighboring dioceses. In that environment, the bishop’s challenge was to maintain the quality of an Aquinas education. His solution: for the 1927 school year, he arranged with the superior of the Basilian Fathers of Toronto—a teaching order—to send five instructors to add “strength” to the school’s staff. And so, when the 1927-28 school year began, Fr. Charles Donovan, CSB, Fr. Wilfred Dwyer, CSB, Fr. John Paul Mallon, CSB, Fr. T. John McGuire, CSB, and Fr. Francis Ruth, CSB joined the Aquinas faculty. Charlie Donovan was born near Buffalo, NY in 1892 and was ordained in 1920. During a forty-five-year career, he taught mathematics and sometimes coached football. He left Aquinas in 1928 but then returned in 1939 and stayed for the next thirty-five years, eventually heading the Math department. A big, easy-going man, he was an inspiring, versatile, engaging teacher whose students enjoyed his wit and comments on life. Fr. Donovan died in 1981. Wilfred Dwyer was born on a farm in Canada in 1898 and was ordained in 1926. After a year at St. Thomas High School, Houston, he came to Aquinas where he stayed for five years. In addition to teaching, he also served as local superior—and earned a master’s degree from the University of Rochester and, later, a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Université de Louvain. After several college assignments, he ended up at St. John Fisher College (now University) where he taught philosophy until 1961. After retirement, he cherished his role as a raconteur of Basilian history. Fr. Dwyer died in 1991. Born Thomas John McGuire in Michigan in 1891, John—as he was always called—taught school for two years before being ordained in 1920. He came to Aquinas for just one year in 1927—then was moved to Toronto where he was named as pastor of St. Basil’s Parish. Although sickly, Father McGuire’s dominant characteristic was gentleness. “Unassuming yet observant,” his biography said, “he smiled his way quietly through life.” He died in 1964. John Paul Mallon was born in Toronto in 1900, and, after earning an M.A. from the University of Toronto, was ordained a Basilian in 1926. His first assignment was Aquinas where he taught until 1932. He came back twice more—from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1942. He was a great believer in the power of the written word and was an avid reader whose faith was simple, reasoned, and informed. In February 1974, Fr. Mallon died alone in his room, apparently while reading his breviary. Francis S. Ruth was born in Ontario Canada in 1902, and after majoring in physics and chemistry at the University of Toronto, was ordained to the priesthood in 1926. He came to Aquinas the next year. After teaching, Fr. Francis planned construction at several Basilian schools, including an administration building at St. John Fisher College (now University), where he became treasurer in 1951. He died of cancer in 1964. So, five years after they first came to the school, those Basilian pioneers were gone. But then, on September 1, 1936, Archbishop Mooney of Rochester signed an agreement with the congregation of Saint Basil of Toronto to take over management of the Aquinas Institute the following school year. In 1937, the Basilians came back in force. Fr. John O’Loane, CSB (as principal) and 21 members of the congregation joined 10 Sisters of St. Joseph, seven Sisters of Mercy, and four lay teachers to form the teaching staff at Aquinas. And the school began educating students ‘in the Basilian tradition’ —the charisms of Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge—that would make such a difference in an Aquinas education.
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