Four College Brothers Honored for Decades of Service

At the Annual Convocation for De La Salle Brothers in Napa on March 1, four Saint Mary's Brothers and several Brothers educated at Saint Mary's were recognized for their many decades of service to the order.

This year's Saint Mary's honorees included:

Brother William Beatie '52 (60 years as a Christian Brother) has been a professor in the Philosophy Department at Saint Mary's since 1969. He was educated by Christian Brothers from the second grade in Sacramento all the way through college at Saint Mary's.

From 1952 to 1963, he taught (among other subjects) Latin and English at Brothers' high schools in San Francisco, Stockton, Bakersfield and Berkeley. He earned a master's in philosophy from Saint Mary's in 1962 before completing his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Louvain in Belgium. During the 1970s, he served as the College's first-ever undergraduate dean and as the president's assistant for student affairs. From 1978 to 1990, he was the College's academic vice president. He continues to teach in the Philosophy Department and Collegiate Seminar program.

Brother Camillus Chavez '51 (60 years as a Christian Brother) has been at Saint Mary's since 1975. At the College, he has led a varied career, including work as coordinator for Hispanic/Latino Programs, intern in the Counseling Department, and as an instructor in Spanish, English, Psychology, and Seminar. He is presently involved in the Mission and Ministry Center. Having earned his Ph.D. in social-clinical psychology from the Wright Institute, Brother Camillus has developed his interests in transpersonal psychology by teaching and conducting sessions and workshops in meditation. He says meditation is at the heart and soul of the Lasallian heritage and the best way to empower others and enhance their lives.

Brother Brendan Madden '63 (50 years as a Christian Brother) has directed the Career Development Center at Saint Mary's since 1980. He entered the Christian Brothers training program in 1954 at the age of 13, made his first vows in 1959, and received his bachelor's degree in history from Saint Mary's in 1963. After teaching high school in the Philippines for three years, he earned a master's in counseling from USF in 1970.

He previously served as dean of counseling and guidance at Saint Mary's College High School in Berkeley and organized SMC's master's in Catholic school administration program in Thailand from 1977 to 1982. After sabbatical studies at Oxford University's School of Education, Brother Brendan joined the Saint Mary's College faculty in 1980, leading Collegiate Seminar classes and co-founding the Career Development Center.

For the past 37 years, Brother Brendan has spent most of his summers training teachers and counselors in the Philippines. He has also fostered a program where professors and administrators from Lasallian universities in the Philippines come to Saint Mary's for one month of in-service training.

Brother Raphael Patton '63 (50 years as a Christian Brother) has taught in the Integral Program at Saint Mary's dating back to 1970. He completed the junior novitiate (along with Brother Brendan) in 1958 and graduated from Saint Mary's in 1963 with a mathematics major and physics minor.

Throughout the 1960s, Brother Raphael taught at different Brothers' high schools in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Francisco and Sacramento. He received an NSF grant to attend Notre Dame University, where he earned a master's in mathematics in 1968, and went on to earn a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Toronto in 1977. He was a visiting fellow at Yale University in 1982-1983, where he studied Babylonian mathematics and astronomy.

At Saint Mary's, he has served as chairman of the Math Department, dean of the School of Science, and director of the Integral Program. In the 1990s, he transferred to Kenya, where he helped found the Brothers' Christ the Teacher College in Nairobi. He receives an honorary doctorate from Saint Mary's University in Minnesota for his work in helping establish Kenya's Christ the Teacher College.

Other Saint Mary's alumni Brothers who were honored at the ceremony included: Brother Virgil Evers '48 (75 years), Brother John Achin '62 (50 years), Brother Warren Stewart '63 (50 years), Brother Patrick Moore '61 (50 years) and Brother John Montgomery '86 (25 years).

Congratulations to all nine of these Brothers, who have given more than 450 years of combined service to the order.

--Compiled by John Grennan, Office of College Communications