Remembrance Day is an occasion to pause and reflect on the Canadian lives that were lost to protect the freedoms we enjoy today. St. Michael’s honours its more than 150 students and graduates who made this sacrifice. Each of the names etched into the Soldiers’ Memorial Slype, the sandstone archway found between Fisher House and More House, represents a life lost during conflicts in which Canadians fought including WWI, WWII and the Korean War.
This year, let us remember St. Michael’s fallen by learning the stories behind just two of the names listed:
Rev. Thomas Edmund Mooney was the first Canadian Catholic Chaplain to be reported killed in action during WWII. He was the son of Michael Edmund and Anna Cecillia Mooney of Westport Ontario. He graduated from St. Edward’s School in Westport before attending St. Michael’s College and St. Augustine Seminary. While at St. Michael’s he played on the golf team and served as president of St. Michael’s Oratorical Club. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1928 and was ordained to the priesthood on May 21, 1932 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Kingston. He was the parish’s Director of Music and Chaplain of the Frontenac Council, Knights of Columbus House of Providence and Newman Club of Queen’s University and the Catholic Action Club. In January 1942 he answered the call to serve and enlisted in the Canadian Army as a Chaplain. He was killed by shellfire while ministering to the wounded a few weeks after D-Day. He died on September 14, 1944, at the age of 38. He is buried at the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery in Belgium.
Private John Cecil Feeney made his mark as an athlete and student during his short time at St. Michael’s before he decided to enlist. He was the son of John Henry and Elizabeth Gillen Feeney of Marmora, Ontario, a town east of Peterborough. He came to St. Michael’s in 1913 to study philosophy, expecting to graduate with the Class of 1917. He played on the school’s first hockey and baseball teams, and he helped bring home the Dominion Intermediate Rugby Championship. He was an all-around athlete, who remained dedicated to his studies. He qualified as a lieutenant, but he enlisted in the ranks of the 5th Universities Company in early 1916. He was a private with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and in July he joined the battalion in France that was attached to the headquarters bombers. Two months later he was killed in action at the battle of Courcelette. He died on September 15, 1916, at the age of 19.
These are just two of the stories cut short by war, but their sacrifice will not be forgotten.
On November 11, members of the St. Michael’s community are invited to gather at the Slype at 10 a.m. to view these names before heading to the University of Toronto’s service at Soldiers’ Tower.
Read other InsightOut posts.