Rob Bronson values his Vincentian education and friendships
Sometime around 7th grade, Rob Bronson began wondering, “What do I want to be when I grow up?”
The oldest of 11 children in a Catholic family, Rob was attending Christ the King, the parish school near his family’s home in Dallas, Texas. That summer, he spent two weeks in a program run by the Vincentian priests at St. John’s Minor Seminary in San Antonio. The year was 1960.
“That was my first connection with the Vincentians,” Bronson says. “I had a good experience and decided to attend St. John’s after eighth grade.”
Bronson stayed through junior year, when it was apparent that the priesthood was not his ultimate calling.
With a degree in mathematics from Marquette University, he completed flight training, and was designated a Naval Flight Officer in the E-2 Hawkeye aircraft. Following 25 years on active duty, Bronson spent 17 years as a contractor running the E-2 Hawkeye simulators for west coast squadrons.
For several decades, he fell out of touch with the Vincentians.
“Regrettably, I didn’t stay connected,” he says. “But during one of my last assignments at Point Mugu in California, I ran across a Vincentian priest and started mentioning several names of the great teachers I’d had at St. John’s.”
Tracking down one former teacher, Fr. Al Hoernig, Bronson reached out. The two reconnected. The former seminarian-turned-Navyman admired Hoernig’s spirituality and example of living.
Through Fr. Hoernig, Bronson also learned of some needs among the aging and infirm Vincentians at Saint Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville, Missouri, specifically for hospital beds.
“I started donating to help them,” he said. “In time, I let the office decide where the greatest need was for my gifts.”
For Rob Bronson, giving back is a reflection of his admiration for the Vincentian charism along with his deep gratitude for the excellent education he received in his earliest formative years.
“They were phenomenal teachers at a pivotal time when I was deciding my future path in life. But 66 years later,” he adds with a laugh, “I am still wondering what I want to be when I grow up.”
Top Photo: Rob Bronson with his mother, Helen, during his time in seminary.
Bottom Photo: Rob Bronson at his active duty retirement ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library