Education Commons^™

Interview Of Richard Kestler, F.S.C., M.A., Richard Kestler Fsc, Alexandria Moraschi

All Oral Histories

Brother Richard Kestler, FSC. was born John Kestler on January 8, 1942 to John and Alice Kestler. He grew up in the Oxford Circle section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brother Richard attended elementary school at his parish of St. Martin of Tours and went on to La Salle College High School, graduating in 1960. By this time, he made the decision to join the Christian Brothers and began this process for about a year before attending La Salle College. He graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and gained a Master’s in Theology soon after. Brother Richard also has Master’s …

Interview Of Richard Mshomba, Ph.D., Richard Mshomba Ph.D., Daniel Miller

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Dr. Richard Mshomba is an economics professor at La Salle University. He was born in Tanzania and spent his early adult life working for the Tanzanian government. When he was 27 he came to the United States to attend school at La Salle College. While attending La Salle he lived with the brother of a local Bishop who helped to get Richard accepted to La Salle. Richard spent three years at La Salle College earning his degree in Economics. After talking with his professor Richard Garrison, he decided to apply to graduate school at the University of Delaware. While he …

Interview Of Joseph Grabenstein, F.S.C., M.A., M.Ed., M.L.S., Joseph Grabenstein, F.S.C., Wesley Schwenk

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Brother Joseph Grabenstein is the Head Archivist of the La Salle University Archives and also manages the Brothers of the Christian School, District of Eastern North America Archives that are housed here at La Salle. He worked as an assistant archivist from 1992 until 1994 and was made head archivist January 1, 1994. Grabenstein was born in 1950 in Cumberland, Maryland to Herman and Irene Grabenstein. He is a 1968 graduate of Bishop Walsh High School and received his Bachelor of Arts in History in 1973 from La Salle College. He taught a variety of classes including history, geography, religion …

Interview Of Peter J. Finley, Ph.D., Peter J. Finley Ph.D., Meghan Bassett

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Peter J. Finley Sr. was born an only child to parents John J. Finley and Margaret Francis Dunn in 1931, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He grew up in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia. Peter attended St. Francis Xavier School for grade school, La Salle Prep School afterwards—located at 1240 North Broad Street at the time—and La Salle College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in 1953. Peter’s connection to La Salle began early in his childhood; his father, John J. Finley, was in the College’s graduating class of 1924. Peter earned a master’s degree at the College …

Interview Of Carl Clayton, F.S.C., Carl Clayton, John Young

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Brother Carl Clayton was born George Clayton in 1938, the youngest of four boys, whose family resided in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Calvert Hall High School and received a scholarship to attend La Salle College in Philadelphia, PA, beginning in September 1956. After a brief time as a student, Mr. Clayton decided to enter the Christian Brothers order. He completed his spiritual and intellectual training and took the name Damian Carl. Eventually his name would change to just Carl. Br. Carl reported to Pittsburg Central Catholic in September 1961 and was later assigned to La Salle High School in 1963. …

Interview Of Robert S. Lyons, Jr., Robert S. Lyons Jr., Christina Becker

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Robert S. Lyons, Jr. (1939-2013) graduated from La Salle College in 1961. The following is his obituary from McGhee Funeral Home:

"Robert S. Lyons, Jr., of Upper Southampton, died Wednesday, June 5, 2013. He was 73. Born June 29, 1939, in Philadelphia, PA, Bob was the son of the late Robert and Catharine Lyons. Bob is survived by his; beloved wife Joan M. Lyons (nee Lang); children, Joanne Jenkins (Ken), Robert P., M.D. (Renee), Richard (Leanne), David (Julie), and Gregory. He will also be missed by his 11 grandchildren. Bob Lyons, the author of Palestra Pandemonium: A History of the …

Interview Of Paul Joslin, F.S.C., Paul Joslin, Donna Sharer

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Brother Paul Joslin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 3, 1946. He grew up in Colwyn, Delaware Country, Pennsylvania which is adjacent to southwest Philadelphia. He attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys where he was introduced to the Lasallian Christians Brothers. During the middle of Brother Paul’s junior year of high school, he became a Juniorate and on June 15, 1964 became a Novitiate in the Christian Brothers. Brother Paul studied Spanish at LaSalle University, then LaSalle College, as an undergraduate from 1965 – 1969. He earned a Masters degree in Spanish from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, …

Interview Of John J. Rooney, Ph.D., John J. Rooney Phd, Lauren Woodring

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Dr. John J. Rooney was born in 1923 to a working class family in South Philadelphia. He went to primarily Catholic schools and during his childhood, witnessed three World Series from his house. He started attending La Salle University in 1940, majoring in chemistry. During World War II, he left school to join the Navy as a flight instructor. He came back to La Salle and graduated in 1946. From there, he went to Temple University to get a master’s and then Ph.D. in psychology. During this time, he simultaneously went to school, taught first chemistry and then psychology at …

Interview Of Jenna Darcy, Jenna Darcy, Kevin Brightbill

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This is one of a set of interviews of three assistant coaches of La Salle's track and field team. The interviewer, Kevin Brightbill, was a student athlete and freshman in the Honors Program when he conducted the interviews as a class assignment for Honors 122. According to Brightbill, "these three coaches, closer in age and mentality to the students they instruct and aid than to the majority of La Salle faculty, help to mentor current athletes while simultaneously modeling the benefits, both physical and mental, of dedicatedly graduating college as a track and field athlete. Jenna Darcy, Bryan Skelly and …

Interview Of Arthur Bangs, F.S.C., Ph.D., Arthur Bangs F.S.C., Ph.D., Caitlin Haug

All Oral Histories

This Interview was conducted in order to collect the oral history of Brother Arthur Bangs and his time spent as Brother of La Salle, which includes his time outside and within the campus of La Salle University. This interview was conducted in Brother Bangs' office in Olney Hall on the second floor at La Salle University. Brother Bangs was born in 1932 in Philadelphia, where he went to West Catholic High School. He then furthered his education by joining the Brothers of La Salle upon graduation and entered as a student at La Salle College. After graduating from La Salle, …

Interview Of Arthur Grover, Arthur Grover, Joseph M. Curley

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At the time of the interview in 2007, Mr. Arthur Grover was the Director of Security and Safety at La Salle University. He was appointed to this position in November of 2004. Since the interview his role and the work of his department has evolved. In 2013 he was Assistant Vice President of Security and Safety. Mr. Grover is a graduate of La Salle University, class of 1977, majoring in Criminal Justice. Following his graduation from La Salle, he joined the Philadelphia Police Department where he served for over 20 years. Mr. Grover held a number of positions as he …

Interview Of Edward A. Turzanski, M.A., Edward A. Turzanski, Steven Gilligan

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From the La Salle University website (12/5/2013):

Edward Turzanski is a political and national security analyst who has held a number of posts with the federal government, and can authoritatively comment on the following areas: International Relations; U. S. Foreign and Defense Policy; Intelligence and Counterintelligence: Terrorism and Counterterrorism, Domestic and Foreign policy issues related to the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union; Congress and the American Presidency; Media-Political process and relations. In addition to his classroom work, Turzanski is also La Salle University's Assistant Vice President for Government and Community Relations. In that capacity, he maintains …

Interview Of Joseph Burke, F.S.C., Ph.D., Joseph Burke, Robert Robesch

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Br. Joseph Burke was born in 1945 and passed away in 2016. He grew up in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. He attended La Salle College High School, graduated in 1963 and joined the Christian Brothers. He earned his B.A. degree in English from La Salle College in 1969, a M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of Miami in 1971, and a Ph.D. in Human Behavior from United States International University in 1973. Brother Burke joined the La Salle College Psychology Department in 1973, and served as Department Chair from 1978-1986. In 1996 he was awarded a yearlong Fellowship …