All those job titles, however, don’t give you much sense of the man. For that, we turn to Louis “Lou” Rizoli ’71, a prominent attorney now living in Westwood, Mass. Lou, along with his classmates, remembers “Fr. Ambrose” as a warm, influential, caring mentor.
“The Good Shepherd said, I know my sheep and my sheep know me,” says Lou. “Well, the great class of 1971 had its shepherd – one of God’s greatest human beings, Rev. Ambrose J. Mahoney, S.J.”
Lou and his classmates feel so thankful for having benefited from the guidance, kindness and wisdom of Fr. Ambrose that they have established an endowed scholarship in the Jesuit’s name.
“Farther Ambrose was named the dean of our class when we arrived on campus,” Lou explains. “He was given an unruly flock of freshman sheep, but our shepherd went out of his way to know each and every member of the class. And by graduation, he wrote us the most amazing letters of recommendation as we were about to move from our safe and secure place at Mount St. James.”
Following Commencement, Fr. Mahoney made a point of staying in touch with his flock.
“After we graduated,” Lou says, “Fr. Ambrose became college chaplain and officiated at many of our marriages, including mine. My wife is Jewish, and Connie still talks about how welcoming and respected she felt at our Catholic wedding.”
In his final years, Fr. Mahoney suffered a long illness. Appropriately, one of his doctors at that time was a member of the class of ’71.
“Dr. Tom Piemonte was Father’s cardiologist,” says Lou. “Tom maintains to this day that the excellent, detailed letter of recommendation that Fr. Ambrose wrote for him is the reason he was accepted into medical school.”
