Aloysius C. Galvin - Early Life

Early Life

Aloysius Carroll Galvin was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 15, 1925. His parents were Agnes Mercedes (Smith) and John T. Galvin, Jr., a wholesale lumber merchant. He was one of three children, with an older brother and sister. Their mother Agnes died when Aloysius was just five years old. His father married again, choosing Agnes's sister, Helen Regina Smith.

Galvin attended Blessed Sacrament Parochial School in Baltimore for elementary school. He went on to graduate from Loyola High School in 1942. Galvin began attending Loyola College but dropped out in 1943 to join the United States Navy's V-12 College Training Program during World War II. It was held at Mount Saint Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Galvin was officially commissioned as a naval ensign at Columbia University in 1944. He served as an executive officer on board a submarine chaser in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans during the war. He spent much of his time assigned to the Aleutian Islands. Following the end of the war, Galvin re-enrolled in Loyola College in 1946. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1948.

An avid athlete during his years in college, Galvin took up boxing and enjoyed playing basketball while in the Navy. The Washington Post referred to him as a "basketball standout" during his time as a student at Loyola College.