Montavon, William Frederick, 1874-1959

William F. Montavon was born July 14, 1874 in Scioto County, Ohio, to John Baptist and Mary (Muller) Montavon. He attended Holy Redeemer parochial school from 1880-1887 and then moved on to St. Edward's College in Berlin, Ontario, until 1888. Montavon received his A.B. from Notre Dame University in 1893. He spent two years teaching in Watertown, Wisconsin, before going to Paris, France, to attend L'Institute de Sainte Croix from 1895-1897. Upon returning to the United States, he enrolled at The Catholic University of America as a member of the College of the Holy Cross to do graduate work in Social Science. However in April, 1901, Montavon left the Congregation of the Holy Cross and CU without obtaining a degree. He married Mary Agnes Burrow in December of 1901 (d. 1940; m. Leocadia Kerby, 1942) and the following year became superintendent of schools in the Philippine Islands. Holding this position until 1915, he then took an appointment as U.S. Commercial attache to Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile. Montavon stayed in South America after leaving this position in 1918, seizing the opportunity to be the executive representative for the International Petroleum Company in Peru. Deciding to leave in 1925, he obtained the directorship of the Legal Department (now Office of the General Counsel) of the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC), predecessor of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). His earlier career and knowledge of Spanish and French were especially important in preparing him for this post, as he focused the efforts of the department on the problems in the Americas, especially the turmoil in Mexico, and tried to raise awareness of the situation in Spain. While in this post he obtained numerous accolades and appointments that were complementary to the department. In 1930, President Hoover appointed him to the Forbes Commission to Haiti. His job was to be a press correspondent to the Catholic papers in the U.S., but he was also influential in aiding the efforts to improve conditions on the island. Soon after, he and his good friend John J. Burke, who was the general secretary directing the Executive Department of NCWC, traveled with Archbishop Ruiz to Mexico to help alleviate the tension between the state and the Catholic Church. This trip was instrumental in the decision of the Mexican government to allow the return of the clergy and legal public worship. Following this appointment, he served the NCWC News Service in 1931 as correspondent to the Constitutional Assembly in Spain. Besides these appointments, he received an honorary doctor of laws from the University of Dayton, Ohio, in 1931, received the Catholic Action Medal in 1939, and was honored by the Holy Father with the title, Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1945.