William & Barbara Martin Foundation Awards College Historic $38M Gift

 

 

Grant to Support Financial Aid, Casa Santa Barbara, and New St. Joseph Commons

 

For 40 years, William and Barbara Martin were faithful friends and loyal benefactors of Thomas Aquinas College, contributing close to $2 million to its program of Catholic liberal education. And, in later years, they showed a special commitment to the endowment named for their dear friend and the College’s onetime chaplain, Rev. Cornelius M. Buckley, S.J.

On Wednesday, the philanthropic foundation that bears the Martins’ names — and carries on their charitable legacy — built upon this longstanding friendship in magnificent fashion. Members of the William and Barbara Martin Foundation’s Board of Directors visited TAC’s California campus, where they formally presented a $38.15 million grant, the largest gift in the College’s 55-year history. In keeping with the Martins’ giving tradition, much of these funds will support the Fr. Buckley Endowment, honoring the 100-year-old priest’s life and ministry.

“We are humbled and profoundly grateful to the Martin Foundation, both for the generosity of its gift and for the great confidence its directors have placed in the mission of Thomas Aquinas College,” said President Paul J. O’Reilly. “We cannot imagine a more fitting tribute to Mr. and Mrs. Martin and to Fr. Buckley, the ‘Jesuit Giant’ they loved so much.”

 

An Enduring Friendship

Although Thomas Aquinas College was founded in 1971, its relationship with William and Barbara Martin begins, in a sense, much earlier. In 1935,  while attending St. John’s Military Academy in Los Angeles, Mr. Martin — then called “Buddy” — met “Mike,” a fellow student with a quick wit and a mischievous sense of humor. The two were fast friends but lost touch in 1938, when their families moved, and different high schools pulled them in separate directions.

The onetime classmates would meet again seven decades later, in 2010, as “Bill,” the retired chairman and CEO of UnionFed Financial Corp., and “Fr. Buckley,” then the head chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College. The meeting occurred at a Simi Valley reception for the College. “It was a delightful encounter,” Fr. Buckley recalls. “Bill engaged me, among past anecdotes, in a long conversation with many questions about Thomas Aquinas College, while Barbara stood by quietly smiling.” An old friendship was renewed.

Mr. Martin died just five years later at the age of 90, followed by Mrs. Martin in 2023. “It was always heartening to witness the Martins’ devotion to their Catholic faith, their love and affection for one another, their belief in the College’s mission, and their humility and modesty,” observes Dr. O’Reilly, who came to know the couple while visiting their home in the Pacific Palisades. A year after her husband’s death, Mrs. Martin hired a driver to bring her one last time to the California campus and, in her final years, she continued to host and meet with College officials and students.

The Martins shared a commitment to philanthropy and service, with Mrs. Martin logging more than 4,500 volunteer hours at Santa Monica Hospital. In their will, they endowed a philanthropic foundation that would continue to support the causes dear to their hearts —education, helping mothers and children, assisting veterans, and mental healthcare —  accepting applications only from solicited organizations.

 

Planned Projects

Chief among those causes is Thomas Aquinas College, the first organization to receive a Martin Foundation grant.

The $38.15 million gift is divided into four parts, starting with $15 million for Fr. Buckley’s eponymous endowment, which supports student financial aid. “This allocation, as well as the $2.5 million that the Foundation has designated for the upcoming year’s operating expenses, ensures that the Martins’ legacy of generosity will benefit TAC students both immediately and for generations to come,” says Vice President for Advancement John J. Goyette.

 

 

The Foundation has also pledged $15 million toward Casa Santa Barbara, a forthcoming guest house in the hills above the California campus, named for Mrs. Martin’s patron saint. The 32,000 square-foot facility will feature guest rooms, a private chapel, gathering and dining spaces, and a residence for the College’s chaplains. Construction is projected to begin in 2027.

“We look forward to Casa Santa Barbara serving as a place of welcome for the College’s governors and other benefactors, as well as an elegant location for the occasional retreat or symposium,” says Dr. Goyette. “We are also hopeful that, with its dedicated priests’ residence, the building will help us attract chaplains from religious orders who seek to live in community.”

Finally, the Martin Foundation grant includes $5.65 million for the construction of a new dining hall on the California campus. “The original, 50-year-old St. Joseph Commons has served us well, but it’s showing its age and is insufficient for today’s larger student body,” says Dr. Goyette. “The Martin Foundation has graciously provided us with seed money for a new Commons, and we are confident that, working with other foundations, we will soon achieve full funding and can begin construction.”

 

“Relentless Ambassadors”

Members of the Martin Foundation’s Board of Directors, including members of the Martin family, began their Wednesday visit to campus by viewing designs for the planned buildings, then touring the Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel and the future site of Casa Santa Barbara. They then returned to the Chapel for an all-school Mass, offered for the repose of the souls of Mr. and Mrs. Martin.

Following the Mass, the student body, joined by the College’s faculty and staff, came together for a celebratory luncheon in St. Joseph Commons. There, R. Scott Turicchi, chairman of the College’s Board of Governors, presented the Foundation with a Board resolution.

“Be it resolved that the Governors of Thomas Aquinas College unanimously express their profound gratitude to the Directors of the William and Barbara Martin Foundation for their extraordinary gift,” the resolution declared. “Be it further resolved that the Board of Governors honors the memory of William and Barbara Martin, whose lives of faith and quiet dedication to Catholic liberal education remain an inspiration to the entire College community.”

Addressing the assembled students, President O’Reilly remarked, “The Martin Foundation has made a tremendous investment in the future of the College: a tremendous investment in you. “Its directors are placing their trust in the hope that you will be like Fr. Buckley: fearless, joyful, and relentless ambassadors for the Faith” — to which students thanked the Martins with a standing ovation.

“On behalf of the William and Barbara Martin Foundation, I, along with my fellow directors, am incredibly proud to partner with Thomas Aquinas College,” said Richard Galofaro, one of the Foundation’s directors and its secretary. “We view this gift as more than just a number, but rather as an investment in all of you. … We believe in what this school is doing. We believe in its leadership, its teachers, and, most importantly, its students. We see all the potential, and we’re honored to play a small part in helping that potential flourish.”