January 5 is the anniversary of Thomas M. Mahoney.

Thomas Martin Mahoney, son of Andrew V. Mahoney and Helen Quill, was born in Washington, DC, on December 11, 1917. He attended Linton Hall in Bristown, Va., St. Joseph School and St. Joseph High School, both in Washington, DC. In 1939, he graduated from Villanova College with a B.S. degree in Biology. He became a postulant at Augustinian Academy in February 1940 and entered the novitiate at New Hamburg, N.Y. in September of that year. After professing first vows on September 10, 1941, he went to Augustinian College, Washington, D.C., to begin his theological studies. He made solemn profession on September 10, 1944 and was ordained to the priesthood at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C., on May 22, 1945.

On June 27, 1946, Father Tom, was assigned to teach at Colegio San Agustin, in Havana, Cuba. In 1951, he was appointed community treasurer and teacher at Archbishop Carroll High School, Washington, D.C. In 1954, while stationed at Augustinian College, Washington, D.C., he preached on the province’s Mission Band. From 1955 to 1957 Father Tom served as an associate pastor at St. Denis Parish, Havertown, Pa., and in 1957, became an assistant at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish, Bronx, N.Y. In the fall of 1958, he was assigned as a teacher at Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, Pa. The following year he obtained his MA from Villanova University and in 1962, he was named principal at Msgr. Bonner High School at a time when that school’s enrollment was over 3300 students. In 1965, while he was principal and teacher, Father Tom also served as a counselor for the province and continued that role until 1968. From 1967 to 1979, he was Vice President of Financial Affairs at Villanova University. From 1979 to 1993, while De Familia at Austin Friars Hall, Washington, D.C., he was assigned as teacher and treasurer at Villanova Preparatory School in Ojai, Ca. On March 15, 1993, he returned to Msgr. Bonner High School in retirement. In 2000, due to failing health, he became a member of St. Thomas Monastery Health Care Unit, Villanova, Pa. On Sunday, January 5, 2003, he died, preceding his brother Andrew’s death by two hours.

Father Mahoney spent almost his entire ministerial life in the educational apostolates of our province and the far west province of St. Augustine, California.
Father Thomas Mahoney’s Funeral Liturgy was held at St. Thomas Church, Villanova, Pa., on Monday, January 13, 2003. He was buried in the Augustinian Plot at Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

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Reflection by: Bill Ryan

Fr. Tom was Principal when I was first ordained in 1966 and fellow teacher in Ojai. His ready smile that reached across his face lit up the room and campus. God bless his warm and friendly soul.