Honorable Thomas N. Lyons '67†
By John Murray, D.M.D. '67
On Friday November 7 my late dear friend, classmate, and teammate, the Honorable Thomas N. Lyons '67 will be inducted into the Xavier Hall of Fame at Chelsea Piers, Pier 60.
Tom and I met in September 1963 as Xavier freshmen trying out for the JV Football Team at East River Park. We both made the team and a friendship began which lasted until May 2010 when Tom's life was cut short by pancreatic cancer.
Tom was a great guy and a true Son of Xavier. He was a scholar at Xavier in the Greek Honors Class and he was a Cadet Major in the Regiment. He was an undersized but hard nosed lineman playing for Head Coach Leo Paquin and Line Coach Frank "Boiler" Burns, both of whom are also members of the Hall of Fame.
After Xavier Tom attended the College of the Holy Cross and Georgetown Law School. He practiced Law for many years and in 1998 he became a Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Tom and his lovely wife, the former Gemma Pellegrino have two children, Molly who is a writer in Washington, DC and Tom, Jr. who practices Law in Connecticut. They also have three grandchildren.
Tom truly loved Xavier and spoke often about how some of the rigorous courses taught on 16th St. surpassed many of his college and law school classes in difficulty. Xavier was truly a place that prepared him for his future studies.
He had a great dry sense of humor. At his son's wedding I came up behind him and said: "Hello, your Honor!"…he turned and said to me: "fine, Doctor, how about you?". Then with his sly Irish smile he said: "John, can you believe that's what they call us today?" To each other we were still those kids at East River Park.
I hope many of you will join in honoring my old buddy as he posthumously enters the Hall of Fame in November!
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Michael Wlach '71
By Brian Purnell, Ph.D. '96, Associate Professor of History, Bowdoin College
I don't remember much about factoring trinomials. I know I was terrible at it. But I also remember that my freshman math teacher at Xavier, Mr. Wlach '71, inspired me to do and be better than I thought possible.
A few years before I started as a freshman, Mr. Wlach had survived a brain tumor that doctors said was inoperable. Before the tumor he led a martial arts club at Xavier. The tumor caused him to walk with a permanent limp.
Mr. Wlach never complained. He was carefree. He put fun facts in the upper left hand corner of the board: a man, a plan, a canal, Panama, and other palindromes. He made math interesting.
He was also serious. He gave quizzes regularly, and he returned daily homework assignments, carefully and clearly graded, the very next day. His professionalism and lightheartedness came from obvious places: he loved math and he loved teaching.
Mr. Wlach once said, "My faith tells me God has kept me alive for a reason and one of the main reasons has been to teach others. I believe I teach by my actions because actions speak louder than words. Very little was the same after my brain tumor. I don't take things for granted - I never take the elevator, because I want to remind myself how lucky I am that I don't have to take it."
I still don't remember much about factoring polynomials, but I will never forget Mr. Wlach. I will always be thankful that I was his student. And that I wanted to become a teacher to be like him.
Michael Wlach defines, "man for others." His actions epitomize that which St. Ignatius considered humanity's true vocation, to do all things, ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
Each week we will be publishing the story of 2014 Xavier Hall of Fame Inductees. Hon. Thomas N. Lyons ’67 † and Michael Wlach '71 will be recognized at Xavier’s Hall of Fame Dinner, which will take place November 7 at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers. For tickets and more information, register online or please contact Mrs. Helene Strong at 212-924-7900 x1654, or by e-mail at strongh@xavierhs.org.