Bonaventure Magazine: Summer 2017 Page 27

orinne Maydonovitch first saw
St. Bonaventure University's cam-
pus when she arrived in the fall

of 1968, ready to begin her freshman
year as a chemistry major. The South
Plainfield, N.J., native hadn't had the
chance to visit campus but said she was
confident she'd made the right choice.

"I felt like the university was part of

my family," she said, explaining that
one of her uncles, Fr. Basil F. Lobby,
O.F.M., a Franciscan friar, had taught
chemistry at the university and later be-
came the purchasing agent for the uni-
versity.

Her statement became even truer

when, a year after she graduated in
1972, her brother, Daniel May-

donovitch, began his freshman year,
also studying chemistry.

Corinne headed south after gradua-

tion to spend the next 40 years work-
ing as a research chemist in
gastroenterology at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Washington, D.C.,
before retiring two years ago. Daniel

went on to obtain his doctorate from
the New England College of Osteo-
pathic Medicine. He is practicing family
medicine at the Bally Medical Group in
Barto, Pa.

Over the years, neither Corinne nor

Daniel forgot about the small, Francis-
can university in Western New York
that gave them an education to pursue
their careers.

After years of supporting St.

Bonaventure, in March they created the
Anne and John Maydonovitch En-
dowed Scholarship -- named in honor
of their parents -- to benefit a chem-
istry major.

"We wanted to do this for our par-

ents," Corinne said. "Neither my
mother nor my father had the opportu-
nity to go to college but they recog-
nized the value of higher education
and provided the encouragement and
the means for us to go to college."

Daniel added they both wanted to

help future chemistry majors while pro-
moting a Catholic Franciscan education
and will continue to support St.
Bonaventure and the Department of
Chemistry in the future.

"We wanted to help the university

because it had done so much for us,"
he said.

www.sbu.edu/donate

STUDENT SUPPORT

2017 Celebration
of Excellence

Nearly 150 members of the St. Bonaventure
community gathered in April in Doyle Hall
for the 2017 Celebration of Excellence. The
annual event honors scholarship and grant
recipients and pays tribute to the donors
whose generosity makes such a difference.
In the photo (from left), Interim President
Dr. Andrew P. Roth is pictured with Celebra-
tion of Excellence speakers Michael
McLanahan, '17, Lian Bunny, '17, and Leslie
C. Quick III, '75.

Fr. Basil F. Lobby, O.F.M., a member of
the Class of 1943, served at St.
Bonaventure from 1950 to 1961, teach-
ing chemistry and acting as the pur-
chasing agent.

Maydonovitch siblings honor parents
through endowed scholarship

"Neither my mother nor my

father had the opportunity to

go to college but they

recognized the value of higher

education and provided the

encouragement and the means

for us to go to college."

~ Corinne Maydonovitch