8
Canisius High School Today
All-American in 1998 and 1999, by
Adidas “Blue Ribbon” Magazine as an
All-American in 1999 and by McDon-
ald’s as an All-American nominee as a
senior. Keenan played basketball for
the University at Buffalo and Daemen
College. He is an accounting and com-
pliance consultant for New York Stock
Exchange member firms.
+
’61 to ’63 Crews
On a cold and
rainy morning at theWest Side Row-
ing Club, a group of Canisius alumni
reunited for the first time in almost
50 years. Despite the decades passed,
recognition was almost instant, the
memories clear as the waters of the
Niagara River. Walter Urban ‘63
traveled the farthest, making the trek
from Southern California with a group
of his close friends. TimO’Connor
‘62 came in fromMinnesota and his
brother Terry ‘63 fromVirginia. Gary
Schwarzmueller ‘62 brought the fam-
ily fromOhio and Bill Fenzel ‘64 and
Kevin Cheeley ‘62made their way
down to the river from their homes in
Western New York.
Fifty years ago these men were the
best schoolboy rowers in the coun-
try, each contributing to two nation-
al championship winning crews, Bill
Fenzel coxing three. As scholastic
rowers they were pushed to their lim-
its by legendary coachCharlie Fontana.
He pushed themhard in practice, care-
fully noting the strengths of each oars-
man. On four occasions between 1961
and 1963 these Crusaders won a na-
tional championship.
The two-time national champion
oarsmen from1961 to 1963 were:
»
Kevin Cheeley ‘62
»
WilliamCromwell ‘63
»
William Fenzel ‘64 (three times)
»
Richard McCormick ‘63*
»
Terrence O’Connor ‘63
»
Thomas O’Connor ‘62
»
Gary Schwarzmueller ‘62
»
Walter Urban ‘63
#
Athletes
Continued from page 7
Five young men—
Jordan DeHonney
;
Daniel
and
Joseph Sullivan
;
Long Nguyen
and
Vinh Tran
—
have received Rooney Scholarships to Canisius High
School, demonstrating the good that has transcended
the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001.
Sean Rooney, a member of the class of 1969, died in
the World Trade Center collapse. In 2002 Rooney’s
wife, the late Beverly Eckert, and his family, Canisius
classmates and friends, established the Rooney
Scholarship in his memory to provide young men
with the opportunity to receive a Jesuit education.
The four-year, needs-based scholarship is designat-
ed for deserving eighth graders at Catholic Academy
of West Buffalo who have been accepted to Canisius.
A committee of staff, Rooney familymembers and the
principal of Catholic Academy selected DeHonney,
the Sullivans and Nguyen as well as this year’s recipi-
ent Tran.
“The Rooney Scholarship defies the forces
that cause terrorism by giving bright young men the
ability to receive a Jesuit education,” said Canisius
President JohnM. Knight.
#
Five Young
Men Receive
Scholarships
in Honor of
9/11 Victim,
Sean Rooney ‘69