My story with Father Tom Murnane, O.S.A. goes back to my days at Bonner High School. Father Gordon Marcellus, O.S.A., Father Bill Maguire, O.S.A. and Father Tom Murnane, O.S.A. were good friends.
They often referred to themselves as “3M”! They used to take groups of young guys from Bonner down to the shore with them and we used to have a great time. I fondly remember the 3 priests celebrating mass in the houses they would rent in Ocean City, where many Bonner guys would join... sometimes 30 or so crowded in on a Sunday.
These men were great influences on me and many young men. Father was also good friends with my mother who worked for 25 years at the Nursing School at Villanova under Dean Fitzpatrick as a secretary. When my mom passed, I will never forget what Father Marcellus said to me... he said “Bill, today I am offering mass not for your Mother, but for her intentions, because if she’s not in heaven, then none of us have a chance of making it!” What a great man. He will be missed, and I will continue to pray for his intentions, because the same goes for him.
—Bill Murphy