Extending the Holy Cross Family

By Sarah O’Brien Mackey

Father and son, James F. Mooney Jr. ’52 and James F. Mooney III ’90, have joined together to create a new scholarship fund at Holy Cross, which they have named in honor of their wife and mother, Joan Marie Mooney. Joan, a graduate of Marymount College and Fordham University, was a former manager of employment at NBC in New York. This unique family endeavor will provide talented and deserving students the opportunity to receive a Holy Cross education - something both Jim Jr. and Jim III say has influenced their lives in profound ways.

"I was very proud when Jim chose to attend Holy Cross," says the elder Mooney. "And I feel very proud that we are able to make this gift together today-especially as it honors a wonderful woman who has made great contributions to both our lives."

"My mother has been one of the guiding forces in my life," says Jim III. "She gave me the values I needed to make the right choices. To the extent that I have been successful, she is a big reason for it."

Avid supporters of Catholic education, both father and son feel strongly about the impact that such a scholarship can have on a young person’s life. "One of the things that is so special about Holy Cross is that it helps you establish a foundation for dealing with the world," says Jim III. "It teaches you how to think about things within a moral framework."

"It is a tough world out there today," Jim Jr. adds, "and navigating it takes a true moral compass. I believe that a college like Holy Cross provides that compass."

Holy Cross has maintained a special presence in the Mooney family, spanning the more than 50 years since the elder Mooney graduated. Both father and son maintain close friendships with classmates and such legendary Holy Cross figures as President Emeritus Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., ’49 - who was president when Jim III was a student-and Rev. Francis X. Miller, S.J., ’46, who is vice president emeritus.

Jim Jr. was principal and president of Mooney & Company, Inc., an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, and of MacDougall’s Cape Cod Marine Service. Currently, he is president of the Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of Boston, a member of the finance council and a trustee of the Catholic Schools Foundation. Joan and he are residents of Boston and Woods Hole, Mass.

Jim III, who has been a member of the President’s Council since graduation, is a principal with The Baupost Group, a private investment firm in Boston. He and his wife, Lisa, have been active in the Catholic Schools Foundation for the past five years. They live in Cambridge with their two children, James, age 5, and Catherine, age 3.

Sarah O’Brien Mackey is a freelance writer from Cambridge,
Mass.