 "Photo: Office of Public Affairs")
Boston College alumnus Rev. Thomas Richard Heath, O.P., BC '43, was murdered on Jan. 13, during an armed robbery of his religious house in Kisumu, Kenya.
Heath, who embodied the University's mission of "ever to excel," is best known for writing the legendary BC poem, "Proud Refrain."
An active member of Stylus, the campus literary and art magazine, Heath wrote the poem during World War II in hopes of capturing the feelings of many young BC men heading off to war.
In a previous interview, Heath, a Somerville, Mass. native, recalled, "I don't think any one event inspired it; it overflowed from my love for BC and for my classmates, some of whom has already been called up, and most of whom soon would be."
Despite not having participated in combat, Heath still felt the effects of the war. "I was home. But I was, I suppose, living in spirit with the BC men of the Class of '42, including my brother John, who served on submarines in the South China Sea. The poem just poured out."
"Proud Refrain" lives on in BC tradition. Rev. Thomas O'Malley, S.J., BC '51, recalled, "[Heath] came out of a circle of people who were greatly interested in literature. I remember the poem making a big impression on me."
"It was a very sentimental poem about Gasson and how much it meant to him," said Ben Birnbaum, special assistant to the president. "It was very well-known to students during that time, like a talisman, a memory of home. He was a true gentleman."
Heath was one of three brothers to become Dominican priests, and was ordained as a priest on June 10, 1950. After devoting 10 years of service in his ministry in South Africa and Lesotho, he spent 13 years working in Nairobi, Kenya.
He left profound impressions through his writing and his missionary work as a Dominican missionary priest in Kenya, Africa.
Before his death, Heath mentored a generation of young priests in Kenya at St. Matthias Mulumba National Seminary in Tindinyo.
News of Heath's death caused sadness within the BC community. "I think it's an extremely sad event when a man at such an age has to suffer such a violent death," said O'Malley.
Rev. Benedict Croel, who worked in Kisumu, spoke of how Heath's death affected him.
"Father Thomas was a faithful servant of God," he said, according to Zenit News Service.
"Men and women, religious and laity, looked to him as the wisest of counselors in their spiritual journey," said Croel.
"His own Dominican brothers venerated him as an outstanding example of fidelity in their contemplative way of life, and a most joyful and compassionate member of their community," he added.
A funeral mass was celebrated in St. Theresa's Cathedral, in Kibuye, Kenya on Jan. 18, and was followed by a burial in the Dominican Community's cemetery in Mkendwa, Kenya.
His murder was months within the slaying of Fr. John Francis Hannon, an Irish priest of the Society of African Missions.
Hannon was also killed during a robbery by 20 people. His mutilated body was found in the Diocese of Ngong, in the St. barnabas Parish complex in Matasia near Nairobi.
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