Yesterday, Rev. Thomas P. O'Malley, S.J., former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, passed away from an apparent heart attack. He was 79.
In addition to his recent service as a BC administrator, O'Malley also served as president of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio before returning to BC 10 years ago as a professor.
Rev. Joseph Appleyard, S.J., vice president for university mission and ministry, said in a recent obituary that O'Malley's lasting impact will remain with those who knew him at the University. "Though Tom O'Malley was a significant figure in the histories of three Jesuit universities - in Boston, Cleveland, and Los Angeles - I suspect that what the legion of friends he left in these places will remember most, beyond any of his administrative accomplishments, is his lightly worn erudition, his deep knowledge of scripture, his ability to light up any conversation with a good story, and of course his booming laugh," he said.
"Fr. O'Malley was a wonderful human being and one of the most learned, respected, and admired Jesuits to have graced the institution," said University Spokesman Jack Dunn. "He will be missed by all of us, and our prayers go out to him and his family."
O'Malley was born in Milton, Mass. in 1930, graduated from BC in 1951 with a degree in classics and went on to attain a Master's Degree from Fordham University. In 1953, he entered the Society of Jesus at the former Shadowbrook novitiate in Lenox, Mass., and was ordained a priest in 1961 after completing his studies at Leuven University in Belgium.
After pursuing a doctorate in literature and theology of the early Christian period at Nijmegen University in the Netherlands, O'Malley returned to BC in 1967 and served as chair of the classical languages department. O'Malley also served as the chairman of the theology department before being appointed as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1973.
While serving as dean, O'Malley was known to take personal interest in the lives of students, maintaining friendly relationships with them during their undergraduate years and beyond. Rev. Richard Alton, pastor at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Stamford, Conn. and BC '78, was one such student.
Alton said that, since he was an undergraduate, he and O'Malley have maintained a sustained friendship - one that continued up to O'Malley's passing. "We chatted on the telephone no less frequently than once a week," Alton said. "He was around when our son was born. He was around when I was ordained a preacher, and I presided over the funeral at his mother's funeral mass," he said. "He was an extraordinary man."
Alton said that these relationships were abundant, especially among students. Alton recalled an incident when, during his graduation weekend, he and several other BC friends invited O'Malley on an impromptu camping trip in New Hampshire.
"Sure enough, he came," Alton said. "He ended up twisting his ankle and hopping through the graduation ceremony, but he was there. He was an extraordinary man."
O'Malley left BC in 1980 to serve as president of John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he served until 1988. After spending a year teaching in Nigeria and then as a rector of the Jesuit community at Fairfield University, O'Malley was named 13th president of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 1991.
He left Loyola Marymount University in 1999 to return to BC as a professor in the honors program.
"It meant so much to him to end his career teaching in the Boston College Arts and Sciences Honors Program," said Mark O'Connor, director of the A&S honors program and a former student of O'Malley. "He made it clear that after being president of two Jesuit universities the only way that you could go up was to become a teacher again. To the end, we were learning from him."
Rev. T. Frank Kennedy, S.J., rector of the Jesuit community and a mentee of O'Malley as an undergraduate, said O'Malley's presence within the Jesuit community was marked by his wit and culture. "With him, there was not much difference between being his colleague and being his student."
O'Malley will be remembered for the way he fostered relationships with students as a professor as well as for his role in campus events, most notably his work with the University chorale group, with which he performed and toured throughout Europe.
"He did have a knack for creating friendships with students," Appleyard said. "Some of those students who are BC grads have a real strong devotion to him."
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