Longest-serving principal of St. Mark's is remembered

Father James Hanrahan, CSB, was a teacher, administrator, college founder and mentor to many.

Father James Hanrahan, CSB.

Father Hanrahan, who died in Toronto Feb. 8, played a pivotal role at both St. Mark's and Corpus Christi Colleges at UBC.

Born in Halifax, he attended St. Mary's College in Toronto.

He joined the Congregation of St. Basil, entering the novitiate in 1944 and making his first profession of vows a year later.

He graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in Modern History in 1949.

In June of 1952 he was ordained at St. Basil's Church in Toronto and in 1954 he received an MA in History from the U of T and a Licentiate in Mediaeval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto.

He first came to Vancouver when Basilian Father Henry Carr asked him to take a teaching position at UBC.

Read more about his dedication to Catholic higher education in The B.C. Catholic.