The Thomas A. Reynolds Scholarship Fund

For the next generation of young men to attend Seton Hall Prep

Few people associated with Seton Hall Preparatory School at any time in the late sixties or the seventies can have been untouched by the influence of the late Thomas A. Reynolds, Jr. '48. Enshrined in memory as a driving force in support of the Prep's athletic and activities programs, as the first president of the Fathers Club to take that organization into the realm of "major league" financial efforts, and as the father of four Prep alumni who never missed one of his sons' games, Tom has meant so much over the years to those claiming membership in the Prep Family.

More to the heart of his contribution, however, was the private side of this member of the Seton Hall Prep Class of 1948, who, it was discovered following his untimely death in 1979, had been quietly paying the tuition of a student whose father had died and who would have had to quit his spot on the football team in order to work at an after school job to pay his tuition.

Tom's wish, voiced by him to the Fathers Club as early as 1976, had been to establish a fund to act as a "guardian angel" in the event that the death of the breadwinner in a family, or other severe family hardship, might preclude a student from continuing at the Prep.

Following his death, his wish was fulfilled by a group of friends, who made initial contributions of $20,000 in Tom's memory and formally established the Thomas A. Reynolds Scholarship Fund. Over the past forty years, over $1,000,000 has been donated in Tom's name and the trust appreciated to over $2,000,000 at one time. Their vision over the years has ensured the graduation of more than 200 students with more than $2,000,000 being disbursed on their behalf.

The founding members and original trustees of the fund, Lawrence P. Sweeney, Gordon J. Ruffing, John L. McDermott, Esq. '48 and Elinor Reynolds, have recently passed on the leadership of the fund to a new Board of Trustees, consisting of Tom's son, Richard C. Reynolds '84, John L. Sweeney, Esq. '80 and John L. McDermott, Jr., Esq. '75. 

The latest Board of Trustees has taken aim, in the style of Tom himself, on elevating the fund to an even more ambitious level. As we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the fund, the annual presentation of the Thomas A. Reynolds Award at the Fathers Club Communion Breakfast serves as the kickoff to a campaign to raise the total assets of the trust fund back to over $1,000,000.

We welcome your participation in this noble and most personally rewarding effort to honor Mr. Reynolds and to help the next generation of young men who have lost a parent to continue attending The Prep.

Thank you for your consideration.

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