The 1965 Awardees

Joseph P. Cooney
(1907-1984)

LLB 1929
Hartford, CT

Joseph Cooney, former president of the Connecticut State Bar Association, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Stratford Motor Inn in Bridgeport, CT on Oct 16, 1965.

Born and raised in Hartford, Cooney received his law degree from Georgetown at the age of 22 and by 24 was elected to the Connecticut to the state senate. He served four terms before serving the remainder of his career in private practice. In 1944, Cooney was called upon to help lead an legal response in the wake of the Hartford Circus Fire, which killed 167 and injured over 700. Instead of bankrupting the circus and leading to a decade of tort claims, the committee instituted an arbitration policy that became a national model; Cooney was later named president of the local bar following the committee. At the time of his award, Cooney served as president of the Connecticut State Bar Association.

"Joseph Cooney was a skilled, devoted and respected attorney," wrote the Hartford County Bar Association History Committee in a 2008 retrospective ." He was known to deeply enjoy the camaraderie of his fellow lawyers and used his talents for the education and training of younger attorneys. Upon his death in 1984, it was said: Joe combined a quick wit, great personal charm, a wonderful memory and a fearlessness and courage of his convictions which, taken with his native gifts and acquired skills, made him the most formidable of foes and powerful of allies."

John F. Donahue
(1902-1994)

AB 1922, LLB 1925
Washington DC

John Donahue, a Washington attorney and realtor, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Stratford Motor Inn in Bridgeport, CT on Oct 16, 1965.

Donahue served on the Board of Governors of the Georgetown University Alumni Association from 1949-1952 and its treasurer from 1959-1962. A the time of the award, he was listed as vice president of the Washington D.C. based real estate firm of Hohenstein and Donahue.

In 1994, a bequest to the Georgetown University Library created the John F. Donahue Memorial Book Endowment Fund for general acquisitions.

Rosalia L. Dumm
(1927-2001)

BSN 1948,

Washington, DC

Rosalia Dumm, former head nurse at Georgetown University Hospital, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Stratford Motor Inn in Bridgeport, CT on Oct 16, 1965.

Dumm grew up in Altoona, PA and followed her two older sisters through the school of nursing at Georgetown , becoming head nurse at the hospital. She was featured in a 1963 article by national Catholic magazine on her efforts at annual retreats to Lourdes and Rome by pilgrims that needed nursing support to attend.

In addition to her hospital work, she served as vice-president of the Board of Governors of the Georgetown University from 1958-1959. At the time of the award, she served as its recording secretary.

Frederick F. Ehrsam

LLB 1926
Bridgeport, CT

Frederick Ehrsam, a lifelong resident of Bridgeport, CT and Georgetown alumni volunteer, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Stratford Motor Inn in Bridgeport, CT on Oct 16, 1965.

Ehrsam was honored for his work for the Georgetown Club of Connecticut and the John Carroll weekend committee.

Walter B. Schubert
(1930-1978)

BSS 1951
New York, NY

Walter Schubert, a New York based attorney and stockbroker, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the Stratford Motor Inn in Bridgeport, CT on Oct 16, 1965.

Little is known about the circumstances of Schubert's award, given that he was one of the youngest recipients ever (age 35). At the time of the awards, The HOYA listed Schubert as "a member of the New York Stock Exchange and a partner in the firm of Carlisle & Jacquelin." Schubert was subsequently a stockbroker at Fittin, Cunningham & Lauzon.

Schubert died in 1978 at the age of 48.