Farrell, Thomas S., 1911-1988

Brother Thomas Farrell was born on December 17, 1911 in Montreal, two months after his mother's arrival from England. His father was Thomas Farrell, and his mother's maiden name was Mary McGowan. He entered the novitiate of the Brothers of Christian Instruction at La Prairie, Quebec in 1927, taking his final religious vows in 1933.

For two and a half decades, Brother Farrell taught in elementary schools operated by the Brothers of Christian Instruction. At various times he also assumed the duties of principal, vice principal, coach, athletic director and choral conductor.

He earned his B.A. in English (1947) and M.A. in Teaching (1952) degrees from St. Michael's College, Winooski Park, Vermont, and studied at Highlands College in England and the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

July, 1959 brought a move to Canton, Ohio, where Brother Farrell supervised construction--on a campus of 50 acres--of College Hall and LaMennais Hall, the first two buildings of Walsh College (originally named Canton College when founded on October 21, 1958, then renamed Walsh on November 9, 1959). It opened with its initial class of 67 men on November 17, 1960, with Brother Farrell serving as the President. Brother Farrell also taught classes, along with the six other founding Brothers [Robert Francoeur (d. 2007), Dacian Barrette, Edmond Drouin, Alexis Builbeault (d. 1962), Henry Vanasse (d. 2002), and Paul Masse (subsequently laicized)].

In 1970, Walsh received its initial accreditation from the North Central Association. In the same year Brother Thomas retired, leaving a legacy of a campus that expanded the campus to six buildings on approximately 120 acres. After a European tour, Brother Farrell became assistant director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Younstown, Ohio. In 1977, he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa) from the college he founded, and returned in 1978 as special assistant to President Francis Blouin.

Brother Farrell died on October 8, 1988 in Aultman Hospital, Canton, Ohio, a day after suffering a massive stroke at the Brothers' at residence at Walsh College. Two confreres from his community at Walsh, Brothers Roland Vigeant and Ernest Paquet, were at his bedside. Interment was at the Brothers' cemetery in Alfred, Maine.

From the guide to the Brother Thomas S. Farrell, FIC, Papers and Artifacts 1952-1988, 1952-1988, (Walsh University Library)