St. Bonaventure’s College is pleased to announce Mrs. Nancy and Mr. Paul Hickey as the 2019 Ignatian Spirit Award recipients, as selected by our late President Tom McGrath.
The Ignatian Spirit Award honours a person or persons who has made invaluable contributions to the community and who truly demonstrate what it means to be a “Man or Woman for and with Others”. The recipient embraces the ideals of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and reflects the characteristics and qualities inherent in a Jesuit education at St. Bonaventure’s College.
Both Paul and Nancy are Chartered Professional Accountants. Recently retired after 38 years with EY, Paul worked in the Insolvency, Assurance, Consulting and Corporate Finance practices sectors. Nancy, who “retired” in 2006 to focus on family matters, spent 14 years with EY’s tax group and six years with Stratos Global as lead advisor on global indirect tax matters. Nancy also spent time with the Atlantic School for Chartered Accountancy where she was an exam marker and student mentor. Both Paul and Nancy demonstrate unfaltering integrity in their professions, working tirelessly to ensure the highest professional standards are met. In fact, Paul was recently recognized by his peers for his service to his profession by being awarded the designation of Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA).
Paul and Nancy have been dedicated members of the St. Bon’s Community extensively throughout the years. Paul served on the Board of Governors until 2012, during which time he used his professional expertise to offer advice on governance issues, risk, and other financial and business matters. He also took a lead role in setting up and chairing the school’s first Fund Development Committee, which set and achieved significant fundraising efforts such as the Bursary Endowment Fund and the annual Fall Gala. Paul was also instrumental in the launching of the school’s Hockey Canada Skills Academy, which has since morphed into the St. Bon’s Hockey Skills Academy.
Nancy has been a member of the Parents’ Auxiliary, coached basketball teams and cross country running, and organized the finances for several band trips. Nancy’s most significant role with the St. Bon’s community was as a member, and later chair, of the Finance Committee – Nancy held this position for 6 years commencing in 2006. Countless “retirement” hours were spent with the President developing fiscal policies and practices that guided the creation of the school budget. In this capacity, Nancy also developed forecasting models used to determine fair tuition rates needed to achieve optimal educational programming and equitable pay for teachers.
Nancy and Paul are both involved in the Church community. Paul chaired the annual “Evening with the Archbishop” dinner for four years, proceeds of which are used to finance the Archdiocese’s various outreach programs. Nancy was also involved in this dinner. Paul provided expert advice to the Diocese of St. George’s on how to ensure the victims of clergy abuse were fairly compensated. Both the diocese and the victims agreed to the approach suggested by Paul and his EY team. For this service to the Church, the Vatican bestowed upon Paul the title of Knight Commander with Star of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (KC*SG) – this is the highest award that the Vatican can bestow upon a layperson. Nancy has been involved with the music ministry at St. Pius X Parish for the past 13 years and has been cantoring for eight.
Paul and Nancy have been involved in countless other community programs and organizations. They have been married for 28 years and are the proud parents of David, Caroline ’12 and Jack.
The award will be presented at the 6th Annual Ignatius Society Members Dinner to be held at the College on Thursday, April 4, 2019.
