Brother Phil Jones, FSC (’72)

In June of 1968, Brother Phil Jones entered the novitiate of the Christian Brothers after graduating from Christian Brothers High School in St. Joseph, Missouri. He took his first vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in 1969 and then moved to Memphis to attend Christian Brothers College (now University).

At CBC, Brother Phil majored in Mathematics and was active in the CBC and Scholastic choral groups. Upon his graduation in 1972, he began his career as a math teacher and co-band moderator at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, where he also directed the novitiate choir at La Salle Institute.

After four years in St. Louis, Brother Phil moved to St. Mary High School in Paducah, Kentucky, where he spent the next 11 years and moderated the Student Senate in addition to teaching. He then moved to Newport Central Catholic High School in Newport, Kentucky for six years before being assigned to Helias High School in Jefferson City, Missouri to co-moderate homecoming activities. In 1998-1999, he was based in Community at La Salle Institute in Glencoe, Missouri and participated in the Hesburgh Sabbatical Program at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

In 1999, Brother Phil moved back to Memphis and began a 20-year stint at CBHS where he again taught math part-time and served as a counselor, taking advantage of his MA in Counseling from St. Louis University. This was followed by a semester of teaching math again at CBC-St. Louis, prior to retirement in December of 2019. Most of these years also involved volunteering in local parish work as choir member and cantor.

I was very blessed to have been able to attend CBU as a student-Brother, especially grateful to my Arts teacher, Brother Vincent Malham (later CBU President), and Dr. Van Hatz, Math Department Chair, for my formational activities in those areas. My sincerest gratitude to all of my professors, Brothers, and lay staff alike, for their untiring educative services in my preparation for a blessed life of teaching and counseling!