University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

Page 10 text:

Delia L. Walsh Mr, and Mrs. James E. Walsh must be marked down and gratefully remembered as the greatest benefactors in the long history of the University of Santa Clara. Public records will not show it as this generous family always shunned publicity and preferred that their name be kept secret vhen they quietly offered their help to countless Catholic institutions. Their first major gift to Santa Clara was the library. Father Cornelius J. McCoy, S.J. (President, 1926-32) and Father Henry Woods, S.J., their friend wished to name the building in their honor. When they refused, they were asked to choose a name and they expressed a desire to perpetuate the name of their dear friend. Father Aloysius Varsi, S.J. Their final bequest which came to Santa Clara after both Mr. and Mrs. Walsh had died provided the capital with which Father William C. Gianera, S.J. (President, 1945-51) built Delia L. Walsh Hall and James E. Walsh Hall. Father Gianera rightly insisted that now, the names of Delia and James should surely be held in public benediction. Delia L. McAvoy was born in San Francisco in 1860 and was educated at Holy Names, Oakland and in France, In 1887 she married Mr. Walsh and through her husband who was an alumnus, she came to love Santa Clara. Although she never saw a football game in her life, she was avidly interested in Buck Shaw ' s boys into her eighties. If friends called on her when her Broncos were playing, she insisted that her maid keep her posted on the game. If Santa Clara was winning, she was all smiles; on rare occasions when her boys got behind, she would shake her head in disappointment. Although highly educated and of many accomplishments in the arts, Mrs. Walsh was never interested in a career outside her home. In God ' s mysterious providence, she lost her two children in childbirth. Her first dedication was to her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Walsh were one in all things. They did everything together. As her husbands ' s career as manager of the Flood Estate for forty years caused him to face many difficult problems, Mrs. Walsh ' s first concern was to keep her home a place of peace and comfort for him, and the mutual devotion of this couple was a source of genuine edification to all. They were one as well in their works of chai ity. Their special love Avas for boys, and their prodigious gifts furthered the cause of education at every major Catholic institution of higher learning in California. In their final will, some sixty five institutions of education and charity were substantially remembered. But above all did the Walshes love Santa Clara. Their final testamentary gift is proof that they deeply appreciated and worked to advance tlie ideal of this University— to mould men after the model of the Man-God, and thus form them to serve their felloAvmen, their country and their God. Mrs. Walsli survived her husband by sixteen years and died in San Francisco on March 31, 1948.

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3athzK Vneaident One of the pastimes which never fails to interest the human family is a perusal of Year Books dating back fifteen, twenty and thirty years. Reason for the interest is the fact that we like to know what so-and-so looked like when he was in college, what promise he showed and what he has accomplished since the day he graduated. The process is reversed when we consider the Graduates of 1959. Armed with their diplomas, they leave Santa Clara to imdertake a score or more of careers. How will their story read half a century hence? Will the brilliant Law Student develop into the genuinely respected jurist? Will the aspiring physician remember his dedication through his years of practice? Will the engineer, the businessman and the scientist maintain their spiritual equilibrium in a world that gives the laurel to material success? If Santa Clara has given you merely technical preparation without a concomitant appreciation of your eternal destiny, it has failed in its objective, for, To mould men after the model of the Man-God. . . . this is the ideal and the purpose of the University of Santa Clara. It is not enough, then, to produce good professional men and good career men. Santa Clara aims at the double ideal of good 1 awyers, good doctors, good engineers who are also good men. May you be such always and may God and His Mother guide you to your eternal home. Reverend Patrick A. Donohoe, S.J., Ph.D. President