Our Lady of Victory Catholic School - Rev. Dr. Phillip "Wally" Frankenmuth Jr.

Rev. Dr. Phillip "Wally" Frankenmuth Jr.

Born in 1882, Phillip Frankenmuth Jr. was the son of Phillip and Jasmine Frankenmuth of London, Ontario. He was called "Wally" as a child since he shared the same name as his father (Wally was his great-grandfather's name). Wally and his brother Jonathan grew up in a small London home on the north side of the city. As a child, Wally had dreams of joining the circus, but his father discouraged any interactions with animals due to the fact that his mother was mauled by a dalmatian as a child. His mother, sensing Wally's sadness, encouraged him to join the youth choir at the family's church, St. Martin's Catholic in London. Wally not only joined the choir, but fell in love with the ministry thanks to the mentoring he received from Rev. Alexander Wright. At the young age of 11, Wally committed his life to God and decided he would become a pastor. While he father was a man of faith, this angered him slightly since he knew that the Frankenmuth name would end with the death of his sons (Jonathan refused to consider the idea of marriage after he was hurt by his first and only love, Elizabeth Pickler of Hamilton, Ontario).

After seminary, Wally was left without a job since at the time no churches in the London area were in need of a pastor. He was however contacted by the Archdiocese of Toronto and asked if he would be interested in starting a small church in the inner city of Toronto. As luck would have it, his brother owned a butcher shop nearby, which became O.L.V's first meeting house in 1905. By 1917, O.L.V. has raised enough funds from donations and charity meat sales to build their own building. O.L.V. however was closed in 1938 due to lack of attendance. The original building was sold to Verified-PaperMills and used as warehouse until 1943 when it was torn down.

Today, the O.L.V. name and Fr. Wally's legacy have been revived with the opening of the secondary school in Toronto in 2004. At the dedication ceremony, Gerald Dawson, a distant cousin of Fr. Wally, gave the opening prayer before breaking a bottle of champagne against the front doors of the school.