This feature appears in Mount Allison’s 2024-2025 Giving Report, which shares how donors make a difference in the lives of students and the success of the University.
 
When Tom Hierlihy passed away earlier this year, his family and friends wanted to do something that would honour the kind, selfless, dependable, and well-respected man they so loved and admired.

“I thought, ‘what better way to honour him than a scholarship at Mount Allison, a place we are both very attached to’,” says Tom’s wife, Sue Hierlihy (’63). “Education is important in our family, and I want others to have the Mount A opportunity we were fortunate to have.”
 
Tom and Sue met in 1959 as first-year students at Mount Allison. They began dating in second year after Sue invited Tom onto the dancefloor at the Sadie Hawkins dance. Tom played on the varsity basketball team, the golf team, was a class rep, and was very involved in campus life. Shortly after graduation, Tom and Sue married and began their family, welcoming three children: Cathy, Lynn, and John. Seven grandchildren have been added over the years.

Sue says Mount Allison was a foundational part of the couple’s life, a place they loved returning to for alumni reunions and other events, and a cause they supported through gifts to the Class of 1963 Bursary and other initiatives. Many other family members are also Mount Allison alumni — the earliest being a cousin of Tom’s who attended in the 1920s.
 
Tom Hierlihy had a successful career in accounting, and the family lived in Halifax and Montreal, before settling in Oakville, ON, where Tom was a partner at KPMG in Toronto. He was also a generous volunteer, giving his time and expert financial counsel to the United Way, Red Cross, Community Foundation of Oakville, and other organizations. Tom also served on Mount Allison University’s Board of Regents from 2006 to 2016, including terms as chair of several committees.
 
“Tom had always given back to his community,” says Sue. “He served as such a wonderful mentor to friends and colleagues. When we had Tom’s celebration of life I heard many wonderful stories about what a true gentleman he was and how he affected so many people over the years.”
 
The Tom Hierlihy Scholarship will support students from New Brunswick, and gifts to the scholarship are matched by the provincial government. The New Brunswick University Opportunities Fund (NBUOF) makes limited amounts of matching monies available to universities that are working with donors to create awards for students from the province. Sue says the match has meant they can grow the impact of Tom’s scholarship, making it a renewable award that can help students throughout their years at Mount Allison.
 
“I couldn’t have thought of anything else to honour Tom better than this award,” says Sue. “Tom was so generous with family, friends, community, and this scholarship is now an important part of his legacy.”
 
The first student recipient of the Tom Hierlihy Scholarship will be chosen in 2025-26.
 
Read more stories of philanthropy at: mta.ca/giving