1906 – 1962 (April 2)
Daniel Patrick Falvey, son of Thomas D. Falvey and Margaret McCarthy, was born on March 4, 1906, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and was baptized the same day in the Church of the Sacred Heart there. In 1926, he graduated from Sacred Heart High School and then entered the Engineering School of Villanova University, Villanova, Pa. Two years later, he entered the novitiate at New Hamburg, New York, professed first vows on September 10, 1929, and solemn vows on September 10, 1932. In June 1931, he earned his B.A. Degree from Villanova College, and then began his studies in theology at the Augustinian College, Washington, D.C. On June 12, 1934, he was ordained to the priesthood by John M. McNamara, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, Maryland, in the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.
In 1935, when he had received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Library Science at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., he was assigned to Villanova College, as Professor, Prefect and Librarian. He served at Villanova for the next twenty-seven years. He continued graduate studies at Columbia University in New York, where, in 1936, he received an M.A. Degree in Library Science. As librarian, Father Falvey played an important role in planning the extension of the library building at Villanova. Through his efforts, library science gained importance on the graduate level. In 1962, it was noted that, “At Villanova University he established one of the finest libraries in the United States. Its layout, its equipment, many modern and unique features, and its contents, have attracted scholars, schoolmen, architects and builders from many sections of the Country.” Father Falvery was a member of the Catholic Library Association in which he held various offices. He inaugurated and developed the Annual Institute of Catholic Scholastic Publications, which received national recognition. Each year, the Villanova Conferences drew more than 5000 Catholic High School students. In 1959, the year Father Falvey received an honorary Doctorate from St. Francis College, Loretto, Pa., he became Director of Villanova’s Development Foundation. Within the scope of this responsibility he organized “The Friends of the Library,” a group that made outstanding contributions to the Villanova Library, which is named in his honor.
The homilist at the Requiem Mass for Father Falvey, expressed these sentiments. “One of the greatest gifts that God gave to Father Falvey was that of being a true friend. Father Falvey knew how to be a friend: quiet, helpful, thoughtful, dependable, understanding, but never demanding, never obtrusive. No one ever became his friend who was not better for it and his friends were therefore all his beneficiaries.” On April 2, 1962, at the age of 56, Father Falvey died at St. Thomas of Villanova Monastery, Villanova, Pa. He is buried in the Community Cemetery at Villanova.
