The College Board of Governors
Francis J. Montgomery
Profile -- (Winter 1997-1998 Newsletter)
Mr. Montgomery is chief executive officer of Montgomery
Management Co., a real estate development firm in Los Angeles.
He attended Georgetown University and graduated from Loyola
University, Los Angeles, before serving in the U.S. Navy in
World War II. An avid outdoorsman, Mr. Montgomery is a skier,
hunter, and backpacker. He has a longstanding interest in
education, free enterprise, morality, and religion. A Knight
of the Holy Sepulcher, he has been a member of the Board of
Governors of Thomas Aquinas College since 1971. He and his
wife, Marion, live in Beverly Hills, California. They are
major donors to the College. The following interview was taken
on January 29, 1998:
Q. Tell us first about your background in the commercial
real estate business?
A. My grandparents acquired a lot of land in the Los Angeles
area, going way back into last century, and we still have
some of it. One part of it is Sunset Plaza, a shopping center
on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. My father developed it
back in the '30s and '40s, and I helped him. In the last 10
or 15 years, that property has developed into a fashionable
place, with seven different restaurants, and several high-end
shops.
My father left the business in 1950, and my brother and I
continued developing the property there. My brother passed
away about 10 years ago, and his son, Francis S. "Frenchy"
Montgomery, is now President. While our business is the ownership
and management of bits of real estate, warehouse buildings,
and so on, Sunset Plaza is our main business.
Q. How did you first become involved in Thomas Aquinas
College?
A. My daughter was at the University of San Diego in 1968,
and I met one of her teachers, Dick George, who was involved
in starting Thomas Aquinas College. Through him, I met this
group, and was in on the deal from 1969, when they were operating
on the idea that they would start up in San Rafael.
Q. But why did you choose to become involved in Thomas
Aquinas College instead of some other school?
A. My dad's half-brother was the coadjutor bishop of San
Francisco in the late 1800s. My dad had instigated in bringing
the Jesuits to Los Angeles to take over St. Vincent's. I graduated
from Loyola-LA, and so I always had an instinctive connection
to Catholic education. Then I got onto the Board of Immaculate
Heart College in 1964, and soon discovered that it was a pretty
corrupt place. I resigned in 1968 with a public letter of
resignation, which prompted their attorney to threaten to
sue me, but I had supported all of my allegations, and so
they didn't. Immaculate Heart lasted about seven years after
that and then folded. So I had developed a lot of suspicions
about Catholic education by then.
Fr. John Houle, S.J. -- the one on whom a miracle was performed
to support the canonization of Claude de la Columbierre --
had told me about that time, when I had asked him where should
I send kids to college, not send them to any Catholic college.
His reason was that the Catholic colleges are teaching the
same bad things that are taught in public colleges, and while
a student can reject those things in the public college, they
are inclined to accept it in a Catholic college. This is on
the average, I must say.
I used to argue with these fellows at TAC that they should
not take the trouble to start up a new college, but to stay
in the colleges in which they were, and continue doing their
own good. But they rejected that concept, saying that whatever
good they might be doing there would be canceled out by other
professors. The net result would be a loss, they said. They
convinced me.
Q. What expectations did you have for the success of TAC
at the time?
A. I figured it was a good bet. These people were good people
and good teachers, and they convinced my they could do a lot
more good for education together, than separately. I consider
that TAC has been subject to more than one miracle.
For example, Ron McArthur had set July 9, 1971, as the make-or-break
date. They had 24 students lined up, and they needed another
$150,000. Ron called me on July 9, and said, "Francis,
we did not make it. We're gonna have to call the kids and
tell them it's off." I'm always a procrastinator, and
so I told him, "Why don't you wait a week?" So he
did. In the meantime, along comes [fellow Board of Governor
member] Ed Martin, and he raised the difference. A week later,
we had the money -- and from people who had never given us
any more money. That's kind of miraculous.
If you hang around long enough, you can see it's got God's
support. It's been a great pleasure, and opportunity to be
connected to this place.
Q. What impact do you see TAC having on the life of society
and the Church?
A. The worse the Church gets, the greater the need exists
to have straight-thinking Catholics -- the need grows in inverse
proportion to the quality of the Church. If anybody will make
an impact, it will be because of people coming from TAC, along
with other people who are like-minded. People coming out of
TAC now will have the opportunity, in 30 or 40 years, in taking
up the battle cry successfully.
Q. Has TAC influenced your own spiritual life in any way?
A. Oh, absolutely. This place emanates spirituality. That's
why so many enter the religious life after they leave here.
You just sort of absorb it. Of course, there is good reason
for that. You're isolated from most of the temptations of
the world.
Q. You have been wonderfully generous to the College over
the years. How would you describe your commitment to it?
A. The College life here is so important to living, in contrast
to what the rest of the world offers. It's a big thing in
my life. People thank me for what I've done for the College.
I can thank them just as well.
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