Looking for information on Venard student from 1932
Please look this over and let me know if you can help
The current librarian at Clarks Summit University (Venard location) has a question (Forwarded to me by another Clarks Summit University person).
It has to do with a Venard student in 1932 named Daniel Griffin. Have you heard of him? I understand that he died at age 17 in an automobile accident in August 1933. Any information you have will be forwarded to John Griffin, the great nephew of Daniel Griffin.
This is an excerpt from John's letter to me today and a followup email:
Concerning my late uncle, little is known about his life. As I previously mentioned, he died when he was only 17 years old so there is very little information available about his life...The only other information we have is an athletic letter, the kind that is sewn into a jacket. It was discovered in a box of my late grandfather's possessions after he died. On the back, written in faded black ink it reads, "Venard Basketball-1932". A story has been passed around my family for years that Daniel wanted to become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. If this is true, he may have attended Venard Apostolic College, also known as the Maryknoll Junior Seminary. As I told your colleague, I know this is a long shot, but any help you may be able to provide is greatly appreciated.
followup
I apologize for the delayed response. I will admit that I am not the best at checking/returning emails. Since we last spoke, I have made minimal progress on the search for my late uncle, despite my continued efforts. I maintain faith however, that God will reveal to me what is His will if and when it please Him. I was able to confirm that he was a student at the Venard for a single semester before he died and I wanted to share with you a letter that one of my aunts (his niece) dug up in an old box of my grandfathers things. Apparently this is the last letter my grandfather (Jack or Jackie) ever received from his beloved brother. On the last page of the letter, there is a post script that mentions the score to a game against Scranton-? which I believe was a regular on the Venard basketball schedule. I actually believe I saw an article referencing the game, though Daniel was not mentioned. From what I have seen thus far, the Venard College basketball team, at least for calendar year of 1933, wasn't very good so a win like the one Daniel mentions would have been big news indeed!
I also discovered some interesting pictures in a box belonging to my father, that I presume could only have belonged to his father, Jack. The pictures attached appear to have been taken at the Venard though I am hopeful you may be able to confirm this theory. Obviously the building in the background is not the main focus of the shot; However, the features of the building remain surprisingly in focus. Anyhow, on the back of the second picture of just the two boys, there is a hand written inscription which reads, Daniel and Jim which I can only assume is the same Jim mentioned in the letter. However, I have no idea which of the two boys is Daniel and which is Jim.
Anyway, I do hope this letter finds you well, and I look forward to hearing from you again. God bless!
Sincerely,
John
Maybe someone out there will recognize someone in the pictures.