January Donor of the Month-The Honorable Brian O’Toole ’68

Thank you for Giving at the Ambassador Level !

Villanova has afforded me a life I could never have imagined. Before graduating, we were encouraged to take any pre-requisite tests that might interest us in the future. For me, that was the LSATs. After enlisting in the Navy and serving in Vietnam, I did, in fact, enroll in law school on the GI Bill, being admitted based on the testing I had done when I graduated Villanova. (Could I have passed them if I had to take them at the later time? I don’t know.)

For many years I have been a practicing attorney and municipal judge. This has enabled our family to experience some great vacations. Among them, rafting down the Colorado River, hiking the Grand Canyon, seeing Mount Rushmore, walking the streets of London, and trips to Ireland.

Fast forward just a “few” years – I am now semi-retired. My wife, Sunny, and I are catching up with some additional traveling from our younger-day wish lists. We never imagined we would be dog-sledding in Alaska, truly a memorable experience. We stood on top of the Eifel Tower – Really? Most recently, we traveled to Switzerland in search of Heidi’s homeland. OK, this was on Sunny’s list, but I will tell you we have never seen a more beautiful mountainside. We were there in June on a train tour, and never, ever tired of seeing the beautiful snow-capped mountains or the quaint little villages. (Coincidentally, we were there during the World Cup when Switzerland was playing Costa Rica. The game ended in a 2-2 tie, but it certainly was a happening. We will never watch the World Cup again without remembering our time in Switzerland.

The point of this article is to explain why we are supporters of the Blue and White Scholarship Foundation. I thank God everyday for the life I have with my wife and children, but I haven’t forgotten that Villanova has played a large part as well. That is why we want to give the same opportunity to future generations. They may not want to dog sled in Alaska, but they will have dreams that might be realized because