Brother Robert Connolly, S.C.

Brother Robert was born in Brooklyn in 1931. After entering the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1945 and finishing his college in Mobile, Alabama in 1953, he was assigned to St. Philip Neri School in the Bronx for one year. In 1954, he was assigned to New Orleans for two years, then to St. Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, N.J. from 1956 to 1962.

In 1962, Brother Robert was assigned to Monsignor McClancy Memorial where he was a teacher, athletic director, and eventually, varsity baseball coach (for one year, after the coach was injured in an accident). Brother Robert was appointed principal of McClancy in 1964 and he held that position until 1972 when he was assigned as master of novices. He was elected Provincial Superior of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Province of St. Joseph in 1973, and served in that position until 1979.

From 1979 until 1984, Brother Robert served at St. Joseph’s H.S. as teacher, Athletic Director, and coach of both J.V. basketball and J.V. baseball, winning the Middlesex County J.V. basketball Championship (the first in that school’s history). He returned to McClancy in September of 1984 and was appointed J.V. Basketball and J.V. Baseball coach. Brother Robert’s 1984-1985 basketball team won the school’s first Queens Championship in basketball. Brother Robert was replaced in the basketball position by Ed McGlone and gave up the baseball position to Wally Stampfel. He stayed on as Stampfel’s assistant and helped to lead the team to the City Championship. In his three years as an assistant to Hall of Fame Coach Bob Lowenberg and the Varsity Baseball team, the team earned unequalled success playing in three City Championship games at Yankee Stadium, winning two 1991 and 1993.

Apart for a few years back at St. Joseph’s, he has been here ever since. Brother Robert was appointed the first President of McClancy in 1998 and held that position until the beginning of 2005. Brother Robert was the first Development Director of the school, and presently runs the finance office.