Sunlight streams through four new stained-glass windows in Christ the King Chapel. Crafted by artist and Franciscan University professor Carl Fougerousse ’89 in Austria, each window portrays vibrant scenes of Franciscan saints and spirituality. They’re lasting reminders to those in the pews of the immense beauty of the Catholic faith and the University’s Franciscan heritage. Two of these masterpieces were made possible thanks to the generosity of Kevin ’71 and Patti Mihm.
Kevin Mihm didn’t attend Mass in Christ the King Chapel during his initial years at the University—because it didn’t exist yet. While the chapel was being built, he remembers going to liturgies in an auditorium.
But ever since Christ the King Chapel opened in 1969, he says, “it’s been the cornerstone of Franciscan University.”
This cornerstone is both spiritual and physical since its location on campus is a bridge between the residence halls and the academic buildings.
Since the student body during the ’60s and ’70s was smaller than it is today, Mihm says there was a very closeknit community among his classmates. Mihm himself got involved on campus by playing baseball and joining Alpha Phi Delta fraternity. He enrolled in the Business Program and, as a self-described history buff, he added a second major in history, taking classes from beloved professor Dr. John Carrigg. After graduation, Mihm went on to establish a successful real estate career in Pittsburgh.
He credits his parents for first instilling in him a love of the Catholic faith and ensuring he could receive an education that nurtured that faith. His father, Edward, was a Pittsburgh streetcar driver, and his mother, Mary Louise, was a homemaker. Another great influence on his faith was Father Kelly, who was a friend of the family for over 50 years.
“Our parents sacrificed a lot for my three sisters and me to give us a Catholic education and send us all to college,” Mihm says. “I’m indebted to them for all their hard work.”
A Catholic education, he adds, is “about virtue, character, and morality. It forms the mind, body, and soul. That is a great foundation for an individual.”
In honor of his parents’ legacy, Mihm dedicated his donation for one of the stained-glass windows to them. This window features three images: St. Maximilian Kolbe at the top, a dove representing the Holy Spirit in the middle, and St. Francis receiving the first members of the Third Order Regular at the bottom. The second window is dedicated to Mihm and his wife, Patti, and features images of St. Bonaventure, the Sacred Heart, and St. Francis with the Crucifixion.
“When you look at how many Masses are held at the chapel each day and the influence it has had on young students, I don’t know if you could go anywhere else and see faith and reason working together as strongly as at Franciscan,” he says.
Mihm still enjoys returning to campus, especially to visit Christ the King Chapel and the Portiuncula Chapel. Another reason to visit?
“The students. Everywhere you go on campus, you see students who are so joyful,” he says. “I want to see the University continue to grow because it has a big influence on the Catholic Church.”
